The fields of Ballymully Cottage Farm were once again filled with magic and joy as Stendhal returned with another wonderful weekend of music and entertainment.
This year we tasked several of the artists performing at the festival to put together a brief tour diary to talk about their experience of the festival.
If you missed the festival or just want to revisit it, you can read our review of Stendhal Festival 2026.
:PANIC :OVER
It’s safe to say the drive up to Limavady was a bit tiring, considering we had a sold-out Ulster Sports Club show the night before, but the adrenaline and excitement of the weekend ahead kept us going! We headed up a day before our set to enjoy and soak up the atmosphere of this incredible festival.
Tiny confession… for all four of us it was actually our first camping festival we had ever attended! But having our first be one we were actually performing at was pretty special for us!
When we got there, I won’t try and act like we were very good at setting up our tents, and I don’t think regular campers and general outdoors people would have taken much joy in seeing our tragic attempts.
After setting up, we had a mooch about with our dear Dublin darlings DogSwim and had a look at the stages we were going to be playing. That night we had a blast watching D:REAM, and a special shoutout to the local acts we caught playing The Circus Tent, with a class lineup from NuMuze! The energy was electric and was such a great night to start off the weekend.
Friday was gig day for the bais! We were playing the iconic Henry McCullough stage, of course named after the legendary NI singer/ songwriter. Our set was at 7:30pm, right before The Tumbling Paddies took to the main stage across the field. I think now is a great time to give a special shoutout to the incredible staff who were so great and accommodating for us, and especially the teams on the stage who were great with our sound and monitor needs and requests at all moments! Thankfully the weather, which had rained off and on all day decided to stay clear and dry during our set, so the crowd had a great time thankfully!
Our set was some of the best fun I have ever had on stage, and I always love playing big stages like that as I get to move about the space and dance loads! The crowd were dancing and even singing along which was really cool, especially when a lot of the crowd were new faces for us. We even had a mini mosh pit during our final song of the evening ‘Paper Planes’. The place was already busy, and managed to get busier and busier as our set went on! It was fun coming back later in the night to see The Skallions playing the same stage later on in the night, and I honestly think dancing at that set was more exercise than I’ve done in my whole life!
Saturday was a great final day of the festival, with our set and performance out of the way, we truly just got to enjoy the festival to the maximum! Some highlights were seeing Dylan Flynn & The Dead Poets; Cast; and local legends Chalk!
It’s safe to say I am suffering from the ‘post festival blues’, and I certainly cannot wait to be back up next year! A massive thank you to Stendhal for having us and for another incredible year up in Limavegas!
Dylan Bradley & The Heat
I start looking forward to Stendhal on the Monday morning following the previous one, usually after recovering from a weekend off over indulgence and excessive joy. Whether you’re a performer, a spectator, a volunteer or a member of staff, Stendhal festival is like Christmas for the creative community of Northern Ireland and beyond. It’s the one event of the year where you’re extremely likely to get to hear and hang out with all of the bands you’ve been listening to, talking to and following online in the previous 12 months. There’s very much a feeling of we’re all in this together, no pretension, no hierarchy – just a bunch of people that make music and love music having a good time together.
I arrived at Stendhal for doors on the Thursday this year, along with Michael Brown, the drummer in The Heat and formerly Parker and Lost Avenue. I grabbed a quick coffee, a couple of cans of Coors light from the beer tent and then we began to explore the festival site. Within less than half an hour I accidentally ended up bumping into two of my other friends, Hannah and Becca. Bumping into friends you didn’t expect to see is a regular occurrence at Stendhal, it should be called “Friend Fest” but that’s almost certainly already a thing. We joined them for dinner from some of the fantastic food trucks that Stendhal always has to offer.
After a bite to eat and some more beer it seemed like the music was really starting to kick off now, so we took a walk around some of the stages and found ourselves at the silent disco at the BBC Radio Ulster tent. It’s a rare occasion that I would want to put headphones on and throw myself around to the sounds of Charlie XCX and Chappell Roan, in broad daylight, in full view of the public appearing as a raving lunatic to any innocent bystander who perhaps took a wrong turn on their way to Tim Hortons and completely unaware of what was going on in my ears, but that’s what Stendhal does. It gives you a freedom to be silly, any sense of ego disappears at the gate, and everyone is on the same boat.
After exhausting myself from the aforementioned dancing (and acknowledging that it was unlikely to get better than “Believe” by Cher), I made my way down to the Karma Valley, the festivals epicentre. I’m not going to pretend that I went and watched some of the many cool new artists performing at this year’s Stendhal on Thursday night. On Thursday night I was very drunk. On Thursday night I was not in the mood for nodding along arms folded to the next big thing. On Thursday night I did however see one band. What initially started out as a somewhat ironic, drunken excursion to see D:Ream quickly spiralled into one of the most euphoric experiences I have ever had at a Stendhal set. I was there, front row and centre, giving it everything I had…I truly believed that things could certainly only get better!
Following D:Ream I immediately decided to disregard my plans of heading home along with a friend who was working at the festival and would be driving up and down every day. I had planned to travel back and forth as I’m one year away from 30 and starting to feel like I’m getting a bit older. I like comfort, I don’t enjoy waking up hungover and freezing without a hot shower and my TV and my local Indian restaurant, but after a day of drinking and a night of dancing I said to myself “Fuck it.” I joined more friends I had ran into during the D:Ream set back to the camp site for a night of drinking and bullshitting and laughing. I was at Stendhal, I was having the time of my life, I’m still in my twenties, I was in a perpetual state happiness and I was NOT getting older.
On Friday morning I was getting older. I awoke freezing and without a shower or a TV or any curry at all whatsoever. I immediately began looking for an emergency exit. Becca was back again today to take some photos of bands and would be driving home that afternoon, so after moping around a few different food trucks trying to tide myself over I found a fleeting moment of celebration in the fact that I would be chauffeured to comfort. We somehow got lost on the way back to Derry where we both live. It took us an hour and a half. It’s 17 miles away and it took us an hour and a half. I got home, had a long shower, got changed, had a sandwich and then got in my car and drove back to Stendhal. As soon as I left the festival any sense of desire for creature comforts was eclipsed by the sense of FOMO. I had to go back.
When I arrived back at Stendhal I walked around by myself feeling pretty shitty, not taking much in musically or socially, but at least I was there. It was July and it was Stendhal festival and I was there! I went home again. On Saturday as I travelled through the gates and into artist parking with Michael and our bass player Mark, it felt different. I was back in action, I was feeling fresh, it was show day. I was in an area restricted for VIPs only! And the entire lineup of the festival and staff and volunteers and pretty much anyone except the punters, though I’m sure they could probably get in as well if they desperately needed the facilities. The grounded feeling I had experienced in the previous days was officially over. I know I have said that Stendhal was a place of togetherness and without pretension, and I’m sure that is true for most people, most of the time, and I wish I was one of those people, but I am a man who once had unrealistic dreams of being a rockstar, and this was about as close as I was ever going to get, so as I often tend to do, I over indulged.
I spent the afternoon peacocking around the festival like a baseball-hat and sunglasses clad celebrity, trying not to draw attention to themselves by dressing as a celebrity. I acknowledged acquaintances with passing “what’s the craic’s” and quickly moved on as if I had somewhere important to be. I didn’t, I was circling the site, flashing the artist wristband, hoping the better bands would acknowledge me as a peer. After arriving backstage at The Wooly Woodland my braggadocios sense of self importance quickly faded into nerves. “Ah yes,” I quickly realised, “I am not a rockstar and we are all in this together and it’s not nice to be pretentious and I hope everyone is gentle and kind about my set and my songs…that is if there even is anyone at the show…and I hope if there is people there they don’t walk away mid song in disgust, or worse, indifference.”
Our guitar player Ethan joined us and at about 3:30pm I walked out on stage and played guitar and sang songs with my friends and had the time of my life as I always do. The emotional rollercoaster was over, I was no longer a wild drunken maniac, or a hungover mess, or a nervous wreck, or an egomaniacal wanker. I was back to being myself, which is probably a combination of all of those things to varying degrees and a whole bunch of other things too. Maybe that’s what Stendhal does, maybe it brings out the extremes in your personality? Maybe it’s a vortex where you experience every version of yourself to the max? Maybe it’s just a really good grassroots festival with great music and great people having a good time together. It’s probably the third option, and thank God for that.
Long may it continue.
Mr Pink
The excitement builds as we arrive at Ballymully Cottage Farm for Stendhal 2026. The skies are grey, the ground is damp, but it doesn’t matter. The anticipation is there. This is Stendhal. For Mr Pink, this moment has been a long time coming. We had been aiming to play this festival for some time, and now, finally, we had our chance.
We arrived, collected our passes — no flashy lanyards for us, just a very special wristband — and made our way to scout out our stage: the Mac Ivors Homegrown Stage, tucked away snugly inside the beautiful surroundings of Anann’s Arch. We dropped off our gear and immediately went exploring. Arriving on Friday meant we were already a day behind, and we were keen to soak up as much of the festival as possible and discover some acts.
Before I get started, I should point out that I wasn’t here purely as a reviewer. I was here with my family, so I couldn’t go full festival journalist mode. I had to find a balance. My main goals were simple: play a cracker of a gig, discover new and local acts, and enjoy Stendhal with my family. I genuinely believe I achieved all three.
Friday
The Circus Tent was alive early on, with Jitterbug Jackson and Brain Fools putting on captivating performances. There is something about that tent — it feels like stepping into another world.
A wander over to the BBC Radio Ulster tent introduced us to Hugo Dunc, who was in full flow interviewing passing punters and generally causing a bit of harmless chaos (including a sneaky appearance behind my wife that nearly gave her a heart attack). Tunes were being spun, the silent disco was being prepared, and the atmosphere was already building.
Over at the Mac Ivors Homegrown Stage, James Witham and his crew were bringing the indie rock. Their performance had serious energy, delivered with passion and plenty of gusto. It was still early in the day, and already we were seeing artists travelling from across the water bringing their music to the farm. Brilliant stuff.
Food was next on the agenda before our set, and the Jamaican food truck delivered one of the highlights of the weekend — the curried mutton was unreal. On the way there, we passed The Craic Inn and caught the unmistakable sound of Lōwli. Her voice, accompanied by strings and keys, seemed to fill the entire area. The Galway artist had the crowd completely transfixed. Then it was time.
Mr Pink at the Mac Ivors Homegrown Stage I believe this was Mr Pink’s first outdoor gig. No golf carts. No fancy gear transport. No road crew. Just pure DIY Mr Pink muscle getting everything moved and set up. Thankfully, Anthony, our sound engineer, was absolutely brilliant. Professional, supportive and completely on board with helping us deliver the best performance possible.
And then we played. I can say without exaggeration that it was the best gig and performance Mr Pink has played to date. Everything clicked. We were completely in our element, the crowd grew throughout the set, and the interaction between us and the audience was something special. There was a real connection happening — the kind of moment musicians chase.
The set was:
End of You
Love Hate Heartbreak
Unknown
Façade
Cry Wolf (Single and Video launch September)
Clown
Psycho
Insomniac
Forty minutes of pure, unfiltered rock and funk.
Unlike some gigs where everything passes in a blur, this one didn’t. We savoured every second. We absorbed the atmosphere, the surroundings and the fact that we were standing on a festival stage we had dreamed of playing. Afterwards, people wanted photos with us. A few T-shirts were sold. Small things maybe, but for a band like ours, those moments mean everything.
To not only play Stendhal but to play the Mac Ivors Homegrown Stage was a genuine privilege. The stage may still be in its infancy, but it has already hosted some fantastic acts including Madam’s Last Discovery, Wynona Bleach and AOIBHA. It feels like a place where new music is being given a proper platform. The post-gig buzz was real. After a bit of reflection, we headed off to see Logy on Fire doing his thing in the Circus Tent. With the kids in tow, it was exactly the kind of Stendhal magic they loved.
Discovering Stendhal
Eventually we made our way into Karma Valley — better late than never.
First stop was the Wooly Woodland Stage, where we caught Tessio. To my shame, I wasn’t familiar with them beforehand, but I was quickly converted. Their harmonies and songwriting reminded me of Simon and Garfunkel or The Everly Brothers, while their between-song banter was just as entertaining as the music.
From there, we wandered around to the Henry McCullough Stage to investigate some serious riffage. This is where I discovered The Last Vinci. Oh my.
Alternative stoner rock doesn’t even begin to describe it. Imagine At The Drive-In colliding with Royal Blood. Huge riffs, huge energy and absolutely no holding back. Computer, generate a four-pack of Ri-Ra, a lawn chair and a set of goggles. Increase auditory sense by 5,000%. Disengage safety protocols. Perfect.
On the hunt for a pint of plain at The Craic Inn, we stumbled across another unexpected highlight: Ataya. Bruno Feytis from France had the crowd completely under his spell with a hypnotic blend of organic, tribal and improvised techno looping. Watching him operate a mouth harp while driving beats with his foot drums was something else entirely. Hold my pint. Where’s the acid?
This is exactly why Stendhal is special. You can walk around a corner and discover an artist from another country doing something completely unique. Back at Anann’s Arch, the kids toasted marshmallows while we caught Gráinne Holland Trio. Unfortunately, the intimate atmosphere was slightly lost as sound from Karma Valley bled into the area, but sitting around the fire in the woods while live music played still felt very Stendhal.
The kids got their burnt sugar, their adventure and their magical forest experience — and that’s what mattered.
Saturday
Saturday brought more family time, more exploring and more music. Brain Fools were back in the Circus Tent, the BBC Radio Ulster tent was packed for the silent disco, there was salsa dancing at the Air Stage, and the Rock Choir brought huge energy to the Stevie Martin Stage. Later, I caught Mishra on the Henry McCullough Stage. What a band.
A four-piece folk collective with incredible vocals, double bass, percussion and tabla. As a drummer, I’m naturally drawn to complex rhythms, unusual time signatures and interesting arrangements, and Mishra delivered all of that. Their musicianship was outstanding, and before I knew it, their set was over. I headed back to Wooly Woodland and caught the end of Seventh Heaven. There’s something brilliant about seeing young musicians finding their feet. It brings back memories, but these guys are already doing things many of us only dreamed of. Energy, passion, fans, confidence — and songs in 7/8 time signatures delivered with style and riffs. They’re going places.
Back at The Craic Inn, Belfast’s Áine Gordon delivered a beautiful contemporary folk performance. A lot of familiar faces were there, including BBC NI’s Taylor Johnston, who looked like he may have had a tear in his eye at one point. It was genuinely moving. Mr Pink had been contacted before the festival by Derry band Deadly Sons about doing a T-shirt swap — they would wear ours, we would wear theirs. Unfortunately, timing didn’t work out as they arrived after our set, but I loved the passion and enthusiasm behind it.
I made sure to catch them at Wooly Woodland. These guys are fierce. Serious riffs, blues rock energy, and a fantastic performance from singer Callum. I’m still wondering how he managed a full acoustic set at The Craic Inn and then delivered that. Maybe I’m just showing my age. After some Johnny Gallagher blues rock goodness at the Henry McCullough Stage, we headed back up to the top field.
To our surprise, Ataya was performing again on the Mac Ivors Stage. I couldn’t resist another dance. The evening finished with a Celtic/Druid fire procession that completely captivated the crowd.
Why Stendhal Matters
This 16-year-old festival is an essential visit. It has faced debt, underfunding and uncertainty, and that should be a source of shame for those who have allowed such an important cultural event to struggle.
Stendhal is a jewel in the crown of the North and deserves to be protected, supported and celebrated. For Mr Pink, being part of it was an honour. We are lucky not only to have played Stendhal, but to have experienced it as attendees over the years. This festival is about community, discovery and giving artists a platform.
To every artist I saw — and those I missed — keep going. Keep creating. Keep supporting this incredible event. To the crew and volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep this place alive: I salute you.
Thank you.
See you next year.
the thing is…
Stendhal is an annual excitement for us, but getting to play it this year gave us a completely new angle, viewing it from the stage instead of the grassy fields. Getting there was another matter. All of us ended up stuck in the endless line of traffic at the entrance, sitting on the Ballyavelin Road on Thursday evening wondering out loud whether we’d actually make our own set. Through some miracle we did, arriving at the Henry McCullough stage to be met with proper, opening-night mud. Somehow that ended up being the right kind of chaos to walk into a festival with.
Being on the bill for opening night has its own particular buzz. The site was still filling up, there was a rawness present, punters trailing in with wellies and wheelbarrows of supplies, other artists doing the same last-minute scramble we were. Our songs live on being honest and a bit unfiltered, so a muddy field on opening night was, if anything, the perfect setting for them.
Stendhal’s crowd showed up regardless and gave us a brilliant reception. We love shows like these where you can really feel the community aspect of the event, thanks to everyone who came to our set! Afterwards there’s always that odd comedown where you’re buzzing and starving at the same time, so it was straight to the munchies once we came off stage.
The rest of the evening was spent doing what I love most about festivals: wandering the site as it came to life, catching bits of other opening night sets. Big shout out to our friends at the NuMuze stage, every artist on there put on a show. Eventually we squelched back to the tents for cans and yammering about the day with friends.
Waking up on Friday morning slightly damp and thoroughly muddy is as much a part of the Stendhal experience as anything that happens on stage. Friday was spent much the same, being absorbed by the community of musicians and artists from Ireland, shout out to Eve Belle, I cried the whole way through your set, it was truly beautiful. The rest of the day was spent catching up with old friends and making new ones.
Stendhal is a special type of festival, a farm full of music, held together by people who palpably care. A huge thank you from us to Chordblossom and the team at Stendhal for giving us the opportunity to play, it was an exciting experience to play a festival stage, and we can’t wait for more.
Reflect
We all arrived at Stendhal on the first day, as everything was still being set up. I (Thomas) had arrived earlier than the others (save for Tay, who I met up with for a bit shortly after arriving), and there was such a sense of excitement about the entire field. As this was our first experience of a festival of this scale, we were amazed at all the different stages and stands being put up, and the excitement just kept building and building and building. After getting our camps set up and getting to grips with the locations, it was time for us to take to the Big Top stage (for which we got exclusive passes to upon arrival, which felt really exciting). We were preceded by the amazing SCHTICK, a fellow Belfast band comprised with some very good friends of ours. Unfortunately we were only able to catch their last few songs, but they always put on a top quality show, and seeing them at a festival stage was incredible. At this point, it was approaching 8:50pm, which was our time to get onto the stage. After a quick line check, we went straight into our set and, after some initial nerves had calmed, we really got into the swing of things.
We managed to cultivate quite a good crowd throughout our set, and by the time we finished off the final notes of ‘Wasting My Time’, we felt really accomplished and proud that we had been able to play the festival. We got off stage and packed up our gear, still buzzing from the experience, and then went off to grab a well deserved meal and a hang out with the lads from SCHTICK. We unfortunately missed out on the brilliant Charlie Hanlon’s set, but we ended the night with Dogswim’s set, which was a fantastic experience (especially as we had previously played with them at our HMV gig in April). Their brilliant performance brought the curtain down on our first night at Stendhal.
When we awoke for day two, we picked up some grub and I went off to check out some of the earlier bands on that day. The first band I saw was Batesy and the Deadly Rhythm, who were getting into some wicked blues and funk jams on the Craic Inn stage. Speaking of funky jams, the next band that I caught was Anna’s Number on the Steve Martin stage. It was my first ever time seeing these guys, and they didn’t disappoint a single bit. I was absolutely blow away at the musicianship on display. After a couple more hours of exploring the area, which included catching the second half of Panic Over’s set which was fantastic and seeing some of the shopping stands (including a fresh garbage stand which I delighted in looking around), I finished off the night by meeting up with some of the people from NuMuze. I have to give a lot of credit to them, as they got us the gig and they were so gracious and kind to us, and we owe them so much. We went off to see an acoustic duo by the name of Tessio before concluding the second night with the Skallions set, whose energy and crowd control absolutely blew me away. Day two had been phenomenal, and now it was time for the third and final day.
Kicking off day three for me personally was incredibly exciting, as the Eric Bell Trio was taking to the Henry McCullogh stage. As a massive fan of Thin Lizzy, this was not going to be a set to miss for me, and he didn’t let me down at all. A super tight three piece band with a setlist comprised of both original and covered blues songs, as well as throwing in covers of the iconic Thin Lizzy songs “Whiskey in the Jar” and “The Rocker”, which was just a blast to hear. After his set, I waited around for a bit and managed to get both a quick chat and a photo with him, which was one of the most exciting experiences for me ever. After a bit more scouting around the area and catching some more bands sets, including Polar Bolero (who concluded their set with a wonderful cover of the Beatles “All you need is love”) and Lazember (who had a very heavy blues rocky vibe which I loved), we came to the headline act for the festival: CHALK. From the word go, CHALKs set was pure energy and madness from beginning to end, especially being stood at the very front. Both the crowd and the band were feeding off each others energy, and they didn’t let up until the second they finished their set. We had our final drinks and chats back at camp and the next morning, bid farewell to each other and to one of the best weekends any of us have ever had. No amount of mud or rain could have stopped us from having the best time, and it was worth every minute.
