Clones Film Festival 2026: 25th Edition Runs Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October
The 25th Clones Film Festival takes place from Thursday 22 to Sunday 25 October 2026, with a Saturday line-up that includes family animation as Gaeilge, The Blind Couple From Mali, the Vardø Young Filmmaker of the Year screenings and EARTH with live original music.
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St Tiernach’s Park before the 2025 Ulster Senior Football Championship final. Archive venue photograph; not the upcoming county final. Milzo1986 · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized; cropped in layout.
Clones Film Festival returns for its 25th edition from Thursday, 22 October to Sunday, 25 October 2026, the festival has announced. Monaghan County Council's events calendar also lists the festival for those dates.
"What began as a small gathering of film lovers has blossomed into a cherished cultural event, bringing together filmmakers, audiences, and storytellers from near and far," the organisers say in their welcome, promising documentaries and "bold new voices in fiction".
What's on the programme
The festival website's Saturday page lists:
An Garbhán (The Gruffalo), The Snail and the Whale and Room on the Broom;
Two Works by Elisa Alaluusua;
The Blind Couple From Mali;
Vardø Screenings & Young Filmmaker of the Year;
NEHA Filmmaker-in-Residence;
EARTH: a screening with live original music.
The all-films list also includes Útóipe Cheilteach / Celtic Utopia. The organisers say Thursday is "just the warm up", with the main programme starting on Friday, and Sunday ending with "closing night at the Francies and the festival club". The full programme and bookings are on clonesfilmfestival.com, which says the programme is still being released.
Monaghan County Council will close Fermanagh Street, 98 Avenue and the Newtownbutler Road in Clones from 7pm to 8pm on Saturday 31 October for the Clones Halloween Day Festival, while Friends of Rossmore Park run Kreepy Kandyland on Friday 30 October.
Monaghan County Council has granted conditional 10-year permission to ART Generation Limited for a single 4.8MW turbine near Clones, connecting underground along the R183 to the ESB Clones substation.
Newly ratified Monaghan senior football manager John McEntee has rejected talk of a transition period, saying the county has a strong panel and a real chance to bring U20 talent into the squad as he prepares to watch Scotstown and Truagh in Clones on Sunday.
