The Pogues, Dropkick Murphys to headline new Boston festival

A second Irish music and cultural festival is set to launch in Boston this year, headlined by The Pogues and Dropkick Murphys.

Seisiún (Gaelic for session) will take place on 6–7 September at Suffolk Downs, a former horse-racing racetrack in East Boston, with a “mix of emerging talent and essential American artists”.

The festival will mark the first time founding members of The Pogues have performed stateside in nearly two decades and since the passing of lead singer Shane MacGowan in 2023.

The set will celebrate the Irish folk-punk band’s entire body of work “while honouring Shane, leaving space for alchemy and magic from very special guest performances,” per a press release.

The Hold Steady, The Waterboys, Cardinals, The Rumjacks, and Lisa O’Neill will also take the stage for the two-day event, with more artists to be confirmed.

Seisiún is a spiritual successor to Fleadh Festival, a music fest popular during the late ‘90s that celebrated Irish culture and featured performances by big names like Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, Elvis Costello, and Tracy Chapman.

“We’re launching Seisiún at a time when Irish culture is once again witnessing another rich revival and resurgence”

Fleadh debuted in 1997, bringing 60,000 fans together at New York City’s Randall’s Island, later taking over Suffolk Downs in 1999 with a crowd of more than 30,000 attendees.

Seisiún is co-founded by Joe Killian and Liam Lynch, a pair of original producers behind Fleadh, who are teaming up with The Bowery Presents.

“We’re launching Seisiún at a time when Irish culture is once again witnessing another rich revival and resurgence,” said Lynch in a statement.

“There is such an exciting wave of extraordinary cross-category Irish music talent,” explains Lynch. “With this two-day event, our hope is to reignite some of that same sense of gathering, of revelry and of community, while also tapping into that emergent new interest in the genre. Let the music keep our spirits high.”

News of the festival comes days after Dublin-hailing singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy launched his new global Irish music festival, Misneach (Gaelic for courage).

The event took place at Boston’s TD Garden to coincide with St Patrick’s Day (18–19 March) and in Sydney, Australia, on 16 March.

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