Preparations underway for festival to returns to Longford Town

Artist team appointed for Longford Lights 2026

Longford County Council and Mide Arts Group are delighted to announce the appointment of the artistic team creating Longford Lights 2026.

The festival returns to Longford Town and runs across four days from Thursday, 19 to Sunday, 22 February.

Caroline Conway once again takes the helm as artistic director for the 2026 festival. Caroline, who comes from Birr in County Offaly was the artistic director for the 2025 festival which saw thousands of people come from all over the Midlands.

Speaking on the announcement of her reinstatement as artistic director for the fourth and final year of Longford Lights, Caroline said: “I love working in Longford. There is such a great energy and enthusiasm here. The artists and community groups are really interested in getting involved – I think it is what makes Longford Lights so special, and we are determined to make our grand finale the greatest spectacle yet.”

Tommy Casby is also returning as assistant artistic director. A lead artist in Macnas, Galway’s internationally renowned spectacle theatre company, Tommy will bring his extensive 25-year experience to Longford Lights 2026.

Tommy will be designing artworks, as well as mentoring local artists, makers and volunteers who help to bring the festival to life.

Tommy talked of his love of working in Longford. “There is a wealth of untapped talent in County Longford. There is also a growing number of local artists that are well on their way to becoming talented spectacle and street artists. What they produced for the Halloween Dead of Night festival in October was amazing. I can’t wait to see what they design for Longford Lights 2026”.

New members to the team are Finish artist Veikko Lappalainen and Italian artist Hermes Mangialardo. Veikko is world famous for creating large nighttime illuminous art installations called ‘Flowers of Life.’ He is set to teach local artists how to create a giant ‘Flowers of Life’ installation in Breaden’s Lane in the heart of Longford Town. Speaking ahead of the festival Veikko said, “I live in a small town outside Helsinki, similar to Longford. It’s wonderful to see such ambitious imaginative work taking place outside big cities".

Hermes is a digital artist who worked for MTV for many years creating spectacular projections onto iconic buildings throughout Europe. This year he is going to produce a projection that covers the entirety of the main Connolly Barracks building.

Hermes Mangialardo said, “It’s such a wonderful place, such rich history. My art piece will be a homage to the building’s past, present and future.” Hermes is also bringing a second art piece to Longford, called Oculucus – which consists of two giant inflatable human eyeballs.

Longford County Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Garry Murtagh said: “It is great to have such a professional team involved in Longford Lights and we can rest assured that this much-loved festival is in their capable hands. It is great to see Longford Lights attracting such nationally and internationally recognised artists to Longford to share their experience and talent.”

Longford County Council Chief Executive Paddy Mahon added: “The appointment of the 2026 Longford Lights artistic team is great to see as planning is progressing. Our local community groups, schools and local artists will benefit greatly from working with Caroline and her team. The Council is proud to support this festival and we cannot wait to see their creations in February 2026.”

The newly appointed Longford Lights 2026 artistic team are busy preparing the festival and contacting local community groups and schools interested in getting involved.

For those interested in finding out more about the festival or booking tickets visit LongfordLights.ie or Ticket Tailor