Sustainability in the Arts Festival 2026
Date : Mon 20 Apr - Fri 24 Apr
Across campuses in Carlow, Waterford and Wexford
This year’s theme: “Drift: Journeys Across Water and Time.”
April 2026 will see the return of SETU’s Sustainability in the Arts Festival, with this year’s theme being 'Drift: Journeys Across Water and Time'.
This fourth edition of the festival promises to be bigger and better than ever, with events spread across the Wexford, Waterford and Carlow campuses over the week.
Through an exploration of journeys both literal and figurative, the festival promotes a dialogue around how the arts can inspire environmental stewardship, foster cultural diversity, and strengthen communities. We explore the UN Sustainable Development goals through innovative and inspiring ways to engage our growing academic and student community, inviting participation through a wide number of initiatives.
The festival features a range of multi-disciplinary collaborations from undergraduate and postgraduate students from the fields of Music, Languages, English, Graphic Art, Visual Art, Culinary Arts, Hospitality, and Internationalisation. The collaborations include multi-media works, musical performances, art exhibitions, research presentations, and cooking demonstrations, the purpose of which is to embed sustainability into the culture of the university.
We will be joined by several national and international partners this year, as well as local secondary schools and members of the wider community through our outreach programme. This is all made possible thanks to SATLE funding.
The Sustainability in the Arts Festival brings together students, researchers, artists and academics to explore the pressing global challenges of sustainability. With activities across our three SETU campuses, our 2026 festival offers engaging and unique experiences which encourage you to consider alternative and creative approaches to enhance sustainability.
This year the festival features:
- Creative exhibitions: art, design, food and fashion
- Performance: music, dance, theatre, art
- Expert Presentations
- Interactive workshops
- Cooking demos and tasting
- Inter-university debate
- And lots more!