Belfast's Your Roots Are Showing music conference confirms global speakers & and panelists

Belfast's Your Roots Are Showing music conference confirms global speakers & and panelists

Your Roots Are Showing – Ireland’s international folk, roots and traditional music conference – is promising its “most ambitious and authoritative programme to date” ahead of its arrival at the ICC in Belfast from January 14 to 18, 2026.

Next year’s edition will bring together Grammy-winning artists, festival architects, cultural strategists, rights specialists and global industry leaders whose work “actively shapes the future of folk, acoustic and traditional music worldwide” across policy, touring pathways, media visibility, cultural preservation, digital rights and artistic sustainability across borders.

Confirmed speakers now include: Amy Grant, Crystal Gayle, Rissi Palmer, Ron Block, Paddy Keenan, Gerry O’Connor, Liam Ó Maonlaí, Linda Coogan Byrne (Why Not Her?), Maria Theessink (Tønder Festival), Ben Mandelson (WOMEX), Matt Bartlett (Midnight Mango), Joan Crump (Hartlepool Folk Festival), Lisa Schwartz (Alchemy Arts), Matthew Morgan (UTA Nashville) and many more shaping the global music ecosystem. 

You can see prices of the conference Registration below:

Early Bird €99 – Sold Out

Mid Bird €125

Full Price €150

Student €60

One Day Pass €45

Showcase Night Pass €22

The 2026 programme includes will include more than 100 artists from over 20 countries, over 60 speakers, mentors and industry leaders, four official showcase stages, 42 workshops covering songwriting, craft, culture, sustainability, innovation, climate action, Web3 and artistic equity and a city-wide music trail activating Belfast’s venues, cafés and public spaces.

To find out more head to the official site here.  



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