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The festival

Féile na Siúire

(Festival of the Suir)

The heart of the night. Free, open, and unticketed — the procession is the spectacle, and the whole city is invited to the water.

Féile na Siúire is the river procession and the public festival that runs alongside it. As the light goes, a flotilla takes to the water at the Waterford quays and moves upriver, together, out to Mount Congreve.

It is free to attend and open to anyone who turns up. You can watch from either bank — Waterford to the south, Kilkenny to the north — and along the quays there is a festival of food, music and light for the evening.

There is no ticket and no gate. Come to the water and watch the city move.

—The procession

The route upriver

At the close of the day the boats gather at the city quays. As the light goes, they move as one — upriver, unhurried, carried by the tide of the Suir toward Mount Congreve. From both banks, the whole city watches the water.

  1. 01Last light · South bank

    Adelphi Quay

    The flotilla forms on the Waterford quays. Lanterns are lit; the city gathers along the water.

  2. 02Dusk · South bank

    Custom House Quay

    The boats slip their moorings and take to the river together, the current at their backs.

  3. 03Blue hour · South bank

    Meagher's Quay · Reginald's Tower

    Past the oldest stone in Ireland’s oldest city — a thousand years of quayside looking on.

  4. 04Nightfall · North bank

    Ferrybank Embankment

    Kilkenny answers from the far bank. Two counties, one river, a single line of light between them.

  5. 05Full dark · South bank

    Bilberry Rock

    The city falls away behind. The river widens and the estate woods begin to gather on the water.

  6. 06Full dark · North bank

    Grannagh Castle

    A Norman keep stands over the bend, floodlit above the reeds, marking the turn toward Mount Congreve.

  7. 07The night · River bank

    Mount Congreve Riverbank

    Journey’s end. The estate rises from the dark, lit for arrival — and the ball begins.

Where to watch — both banks →
—Alongside the water

On the banks

While the flotilla passes, the quays come alive. Food and drink from the region, music through the evening, and light on the water — a free festival for the whole city and everyone who travels to it.

  • Food and drink along the quays
  • Music through the evening
  • Light on the water, both banks
  • Big screens at the overflow sites