The folk and roots conference features concerts, showcases, panels, education and cultural exchanges, with the conference aimed at developing artists and songwriters to learn, network and build real contacts across Ireland, the UK globally.
Over 1,500 delegates are expected in 2026, with five days of showcases, panels, workshops, and networking in Belfast from Tuesday 13th to Saturday 18th January.
Artists
Over 100 artists from 20 countries will be showcasing across four stages including Irish and international artists including David Keenan, Wallis Bird, CAOIMHÍN, Paddy Keenan (The Bothy Band), The Kates, How I Became A Wave, Moxie and international acts like Grammy Winners Amy Grant and Country Music legend Crystal Gayle, Wyatt Ellis and Charm of Finches, a Folk in Fusion opening concert and a citywide music trail in Belfast’s venues, cafés and corners.
Full list of artists showcasing.
Speakers
Your Roots Are Showing features 60 speakers, mentors and industry leaders and include with 42 workshops on songwriting, craft, culture, sustainability, innovation, climate action, Web3 and artistic equity.
Speakers include Amy Grant, Crystal Gayle, Ron Block, Allison Shaw, Matthew Morgan, Pete Fisher, Leslie Fram, Maria Theessink, Linda Coogan Byrne, Keith Johnson, Barry Stapleton, Sheena Madden, Andrea von Foerster, along with many others. More info below.
Your Roots Are Showing takes place 13 to 18 January at ICC Belfast, featuring panels, showcases, networking, workshops, masterclasses and city-wide programming.
Register for Your Roots Are Showing at www.showingroots.com/register from €125.
Early Bird €99 – Sold Out
Mid Bird €125
Full Price €150
Student €60
One Day Pass €45
Showcase Night Pass €22
The Line-up of Speakers Include:
Allison Shaw – CEO, Manic Monkee
A powerhouse in festival architecture and artist development, Shaw has spent more than two decades building, scaling and transforming major festivals across North America. Her work has shaped touring ecosystems, audience engagement models and sustainable event design. She is one of the few strategists capable of reading cultural shifts in real time and translating them into long-term festival growth. Artists look to her for clarity, labels listen to her for direction, and the wider industry watches the trends she sets.
Anna Fahey – Copyright Delta
One of the most respected voices in digital rights today. Fahey specialises in the murky but essential world of copyright infrastructure, metadata accuracy, neighbouring rights and digital revenue flows. She has been central to building fairer systems for independent musicians at a time when streaming fragmentation and rights complexity are at an all-time high. Her sessions give artists the armour they need to actually get paid in a modern ecosystem that is structurally designed to lose them money.
Ben Mandelson – Founding Director of WOMEX
A titan of the global roots community. Mandelson built WOMEX from the ground up into the world’s most influential international showcase and conference for folk, world and traditional music. He is responsible for creating export pathways, career lifelines and cultural bridges for thousands of artists. His understanding of global touring networks, cross-border collaboration and cultural policy is unmatched. Having him at YRAS positions Belfast within the same international orbit as the largest folk platforms in the world.
Bavo Vanden Broeck – Director of Flanders Folk Network
One of Europe’s leading architects of folk-sector collaboration. Vanden Broeck has shaped touring mobility schemes, artist exchange ecosystems and continental funding pathways that open new markets for emerging musicians. His work sits at the intersection of culture, policy and international movement. For Irish artists seeking European opportunities, his expertise is not just useful, it is essential.
Amy Grant – Singer / Songwriter / Philanthropist
A six-time Grammy-winning cultural icon whose crossover success changed the commercial ceiling for roots-influenced, spiritually adjacent and Americana music. Grant has sold over 30 million albums and remains one of the most influential songwriters of her generation. Her career is a masterclass in reinvention, authenticity and sustaining global relevance across four decades. Few artists understand audience psychology and emotional connection at her level.
Leslie Fram – Founder & CEO of FEMco
One of the most powerful executives in country and Americana music. As Senior Vice President at CMT, Fram has been instrumental in shifting the visibility of women through the groundbreaking Next Women of Country initiative. She has championed hundreds of artists, challenged systemic gender imbalance and pushed major platforms to re-examine who gets seen and heard. Fram brings frontline knowledge of media power, broadcast strategy and how to build an artist’s career from the inside out.
Fiona Bloom – The Bloom Effect,
Artist Management, Publicity, and Tour Marketing
A global PR strategist with a reputation for breaking artists long before they hit the mainstream. Bloom’s career spans continents and genres, and she has shaped campaigns for some of the most influential names in independent music. Her superpower is cutting through noise. In a fractured media landscape dominated by algorithms, Bloom understands exactly how to position an artist for international impact and long-term narrative ownership.
Paddy Keenan
A living master of Irish traditional music and one of the greatest uilleann pipers in the world. Keenan’s playing is the connective thread between generations, styles and regional histories. His artistry embodies the lineage that modern Irish folk is built upon. His presence at YRAS grounds the entire conference in the truth of the tradition itself, reminding emerging artists that heritage and innovation thrive hand in hand.
Ron Block
A fourteen-time Grammy winner and one of the defining musicians of modern Americana and bluegrass. Known for his work with Alison Krauss and Union Station, Block is revered for his precision, emotional depth and technical mastery. His career offers artists a roadmap for longevity rooted in craft, discipline and integrity. Few can speak as deeply about the intersection of songwriting, musicianship and spiritual grounding.
Gerry O’Connor
One of Ireland’s most acclaimed fiddle players, carrying a style and repertoire passed down through generations of Dundalk and Oriel tradition-bearers. O’Connor’s work as a performer, educator and cultural custodian has shaped modern Irish fiddle playing. His insight into transmission, heritage and stylistic evolution is invaluable for artists working within folk, trad or contemporary acoustic spaces.
Linda Coogan Byrne – CEO of Why Not Her? & Good Seed PR. Music Consultant and Activist.
A leading PR strategist and one of the most influential changemakers in the Irish and UK music industry. Through her organisation Why Not Her?, she exposed gender bias across national radio, dismantled long-standing gatekeeping patterns and forced media accountability at a scale never before seen. Her work directly shaped policy, programming and public awareness, earning her the Outstanding Contributor to Gender Equality Award at the UN Awards in London this October and being inducted into the UK Music Industry’s Roll Of Honour. Coogan Byrne’s advocacy has permanently altered the landscape for women and gender minorities in music.
Why This Line-Up Matters
YRAS is a curated gathering of people who genuinely shape policy, culture, touring, representation and artist careers. It offers delegates a chance to learn directly from the individuals who influence the global folk and roots ecosystem.
“At YRAS, everything begins and ends with the artists,” said Charlene Sloan, Co-Founder & Executive Director. “They are the heartbeat of this event and the reason we gather. These showcases are about more than just performance – they are about building sustainable careers, creating connections, and celebrating the wellbeing and creativity of artists who carry these traditions forward.”
“Our showcases are designed to celebrate both tradition and transformation,” adds Brendan McCreanor, Co-Founder & Creative Director. “The 2026 lineup brings together artists who honour deep-rooted musical heritage while also blending genres, crossing borders, and creating bold new sounds. It’s a living proof that music is at its most powerful when it evolve, and Belfast will feel that energy first-hand.”
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
