The Dublin plein air festival is Ireland’s premier outdoor painting festival and one you should put in your diary for next year. Monday 16 to Sunday 22 June 2025.
A Big thank you to our Sponsors
The festival is the perfect painting holiday in Ireland and offers many painting courses during the week. Whether you are an experienced plein air painter, a novice or have never painted out doors before; we hope you will join us and we look forward to meeting you.
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Community and friendship is the basis of our festival so even if you come to our festival by yourself, you will leave having met friends who share your passion for art, while enjoying the beautiful landscapes, charming coastal villages and friendly people. The festival is hosted around North county Dublin / Fingal and welcomes artists from Ireland and all over the world; so bring your art materials and paint outdoors in Ireland’s stunning landscape with fellow artists and friends.
A typical day at the festival :
Each morning (generally between 9 – 10 am) you will arrive at the chosen location, register at the information hub for the paint-out and get your canvas or your watercolour paper stamped for that day’s painting.
You will then go and paint in the chosen location for the morning; stopping for lunch to discuss your mornings work with fellow artists. After lunch you may continue your painting or start a new one for the afternoon. Or if you have signed up to do one of the workshops during the day you will join the tutor and fellow artists instead.
Late that afternoon usually around 5 pm you gather with the other artists to display your unframed work on your easel. There is a prize-giving for that day’s work and members of the public are encouraged to purchase any of the work they like from the artists.
During the festival week there are opportunities for social evenings. Artists can gather together to chat and get to know each other. It’s all about painting, making friends and enjoying yourself.
Getting to the our plein air festival is easy
We have an excellent road and rail infrastructure for artists traveling from around Ireland. While for international Artists visiting the festival, we are very closely located to Dublin International airport as well as the Dublin ferry port.
Go to our Artist Information page to start your journey
Look at our Artist information page to find | Travel Links | Car Hire | Accommodation | Art Supplies |
The festival consists of three parts :
Artist Registration ( €75 ) – allowing you to attend all or some of the seven ‘paint outs’ days at beautiful pre-selected locations, exhibit at the festival, be eligible for daily prizes, festival awards and participate in our social evenings. We have chosen a stunning variety of scenes to paint throughout the festival week from seaside harbours to beaches, old castles to rolling fields and quaint little villages.
You can choose to attend all or just some of these paint outs, it’s up to you.
YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED ARTIST BEFORE YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR ANY OF THE OTHER OPTIONS BELOW
Workshop registration ( €40 each ) Join these workshops to learn and improve your painting techniques. The workshops are hosted by recognised plein air artists who will share their tips of the trade with you.
Paint Quick Competition – €25 donation to Cystic Fibrosis Ireland – Join in the 2 hour competition to be in with a chance to win cash prizes and exhibit your work on the easel at the end of the competition for the public to buy. This is a great favourite for the visiting public to watch work being created before their eyes.
It’s a ‘pick and mix’ for you to choose from.