Cork City Council Unveils Major Additions to Corkmas 2025

 Corkmas is shining brightly across the city, as the iconic Ferris Wheel has returned to Grand Parade and the Christmas Markets bring warmth and colour to Emmet Place. Building on this seasonal momentum, Cork City Council is pleased to unveil one of the key highlights of Corkmas 2025. This year marks the introduction of two major festive hubs: the newly reopened Bishop Lucey Park and the newly developed Counting House Plaza on South Main Street.

These two landmark locations will host an extensive programme of FREE family-friendly events over three weekends, running from 6 to 21 December. Workshops, performances, music, circus activities and community celebrations will animate both spaces throughout the month.


 

Bishop Lucey Park will become a vibrant heart of Christmas activity throughout the month, with a full programme running between 12pm and 6pm on selected dates. Families can look forward to a lively mix of festive games, creative workshops and Christmassy performances.

Each day begins with free Christmas-themed games, including magnet mazes, candy-cane limbo and reindeer ring toss. A host of roaming circus performers - from stilt walkers to jugglers and playful hula-hoop artists - will bring added sparkle throughout the early afternoon. On selected days, children and adults can step into the world of circus skills in drop-in workshops where they can learn to juggle, spin plates or try their hand at hula-hooping.

Creative minds of all ages will enjoy Cork Community Art Link’s Christmas Sparkle workshops, where families can craft stars, reindeer and seasonal shapes of all sizes and decorate each piece in their own unique way. Festive drumming sessions with Drumadore will take place on 14 December, inviting families to feel the rhythm and create joyful music together.

Live music will fill the park as The Underscore Orchestra, accompanied by Santa on a Bike, brings lively festive tunes on 14 and 20 December. The park also hosts a joyful kids’ disco on 6 and 21 December, with cheerful holiday hits, dancing and festive prizes, along with colourful facepainting sessions on 21 December courtesy of Happy Faces Cork.

Only a short stroll away, the newly opened Counting House Plaza will become Cork’s newest festive stage, presenting an exciting mix of musical performances, choral celebrations, dance displays and community showcases across the weekend of 6 and 7 December.

The Saturday programme opens with the historic Barrack Street Band, followed by the energy and creativity of the Kabin Crew, Cork’s own 20 piece brass and percussion big band BoolaBoom, and a vibrant evening performance from the genre-bending band Grooveline.

Sunday’s festivities bring a joyful celebration of song and community. The Sing-Along Social leads the crowd through favourite Christmas pop classics before young musicians from Mahon Community Concert Band and Barrack Street Youth Band come together in a special Music Generation collaboration. Voices of Cork, the Trish McCarthy School of Dance, Choral ConFusion, the Munster String Quartet and operatic soloist Emma Nash all take to the stage throughout the evening. The event concludes with Voices of Peace, an intercultural children’s and youth choir from the Cork Academy of Music and CreativeIrl, who will offer a heartfelt performance of Ukrainian Christmas songs, including the world-famous “Shchedryk” (“Carol of the Bells”), creating a resonant and memorable finale.

In addition to this weekend programme, the plaza will host a spectacular fire performance on Friday 13 December, as Ireland’s leading fire arts company, ROGU Fire Arts, presents “Stories from the Book of Fire” at 5pm and again at 7pm - a visually stunning journey through myth and flame that promises to dazzle audiences of all ages.

For more info see www.corkmas.ie

Saturday 6 December    

16:00
Barrack Street Band  
Bringing the sound of music to Cork since 1837, the Cork Barrack Street Band is a proud community of musicians sharing our passion for music.   

17:00
Kabin Crew  
From catchy hooks to heartfelt verses, these young performers bring the magic of Knocknaheeny to Christmas in Cork   

18:15
Boola Boom  
Cork 's own 20 piece brass and percussion big band, playing jazzy house music    

20:00
Grooveline  
6 piece style-bending band rooted in funk make a completely refreshing sound that is unlike anything in the Irish music scene.  

Sunday 7 December    

16:10 - 17:10
Sing-along Social  
Get ready to rock around the Christmas pop charts as we jingle all the way through Mariah, Wham, East 17, Cher and all your guilty-pleasure faves.  No microphones, no judges, no pressure — just fun and shared joy!    

17:20 - 17:45 
Music Generation Collaboration  

Young brass & wind musicians from Mahon Community Concert Band and Barrack Street Youth Band come together for a very special performance of familiar tunes and Christmas classics. Presented in partnership with Music Generation Cork City and Cork Academy of Music.    

 17:55 - 18:20
Voices of Cork  
A four part harmony community choir, aiming to provide quality choral music within the community, focused on people with limited access to such music, plus to give members of the community an opportunity to participate, regardless of prior experience.    

18:30 – 18:50
Trish McCarthy School of Dance  
Based in The Lough and Togher, Trish McCarthy School of Modern Dance teaches a variety of dance classes including Hip-Hop, Theatre Craft, Contemporary and Freestyle. Students range in age from 2 years old to 17.    

19:00 – 19:30
Choral Con Fusion 
A vibrant, inclusive LGBTS choir with strong roots in the LGBTQIA+ community, offering a welcoming space for individuals from all walks of life to connect, express themselves, and celebrate diversity through the joy of singing.    

19:30 – 20:00
Emma Nash  
An alumna of the Cara O’Sullivan Associate Artist programme. From singing ‘Stand Up and Fight’ at Munster Rugby matches to premiering new Irish opera with the RTE Concert Orchestra, Emma has been described by the Irish Times as ‘captivating’.    

20:00 - 20:30
Munster String Quartet  
Ireland's most exciting pop string quartet, MSQ specialise in performing pop and rock classics, famous movie themes and music from trending TV shows.    

20:30 – 21:00
Voices of Peace - A Musical Journey Through the Best Christmas Songs  

The intercultural children’s and youth choir “Voices of Peace” of the Cork Academy of Music, CreativeIrl, conducted by Svitlana Deikun, featuring 25 talented young singers, will create an atmosphere of warmth and harmony, sharing the beauty of beloved Ukrainian Christmas melodies.  Popular Ukrainian Christmas songs will sound especially warm — sincere, homelike, and heart-warming for everyone in the audience. For our participants, the choir is about family, support, and mutual respect. These values resonate in every note, adding a special heartfelt touch to the evening.  The world-renowned Ukrainian masterpiece “Shchedryk”, known around the globe as “Carol of the Bells”, will serve as the leitmotif of the event, uniting all the festive moments.