Dublin’s beloved The Workman’s Club has been involved since the beginning, hosting Borderline Festival in the Cellar (R.I.P) and the main room in more recent years, with punters packing the venue out for bands they never heard of, but inevitably leave talking about for years to come. The Workman’s Club is an institution in Ireland’s music scene, and one of the only mid-sized venues in Dublin available to facilitate touring artists of a particular level.
“Borderline Festival has quickly established itself as one of the most important weekends in the live music calendar at The Workman’s Club. A showcase for the bands shaping the alternative scene, both at home and abroad, the festival offers a glimpse into the sounds & ideas of the future”. – Vinny Casey, The Workman’s Club
In 2026, the festival added a new venue: The Project Arts Centre, a space in the centre of Temple Bar that is well known for its work within the contemporary art and theatre space. Their team are acutely aware of the lack of spaces available in Dublin for live music, as venues continue to dwindle (The Workman’s Cellar, The Complex, Izakaya, Tivoli, Hanger, Tramline to name just a few). Project Arts Centre is deeply invested in the development of artists and leading on conversations around the development of art-forms and the cultural sector.
“It is essential to the music festival landscape in Ireland that arts spaces open their doors to them in a time when many of the landmark music venues are closing throughout the city. Borderline showcases an electric programme of the finest in forward-facing music from Ireland and abroad, and champions contemporary music culture. This is integral to us here at Project Arts Centre”. – Sophie Motley, Artistic Director at Project Arts Centre
The Project Arts Centre added two stages to the Borderline Festival Trail; “The Cube”, a black-box intimate space and their multi-purpose “Space Upstairs”. This enabled Borderline Festival to exponentially increase the number of acts on its lineup, and have them play simultaneously across the three spaces of the festival trail. Clashes occurred, yes, but the capacity to house all of these artists and therefore punters, means the festival can grow year on year, and showcase even more emerging music to the Irish market.
This year, this ethos continues, with the addition of the New Theatre, located right next to the Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar. It offers a new intimate space, and a fourth stage, to the Borderline Festival Trail, which now means there can be over 50 acts on the lineup this year.
“We at The New Theatre are thrilled to be a new partner venue for Borderline Festival for 2027. As a venue, we are always looking for new and exciting ways to showcase art in the heart of Temple Bar and we are excited to be in great company with Project Arts Centre and The Workman’s Club for this year’s festival. We are looking forward to three days of incredible music!” – Anthony Fox, The New Theatre
With more exciting announcements to come, keep an eye on Borderline Festival. You might just discover your new favourite artist.
