Celebrating Irish craft and design with nationwide events

2026 Theme

This year’s theme for DCCI Irish Design Week will explore ‘Fáilte Future Europe’. A chance for designers to showcase and highlight ideas and innovative solutions for the problems we face as an Island and globally. We need action and design is the key.

Fáilte: FAWL-chuh (or FAHL-cheh) – Irish Gaelic for “Welcome”

Irish Design Week 2026 returns for its fifth year with its most ambitious programme yet, bringing together designers, makers, businesses, cultural organisations, educators and creative leaders from Ireland and across Europe for a week-long celebration of design in all its forms. From fashion, architecture and craft to digital innovation, graphic design and design for public good, the programme showcases the breadth and impact of contemporary design today.

Taking place during Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, this special edition is united by the theme Fáilte Future Europe. Combining the warmth of Irish welcome with a forward-looking European outlook, the theme explores how creativity, design and cultural innovation can help shape a more sustainable, competitive, inclusive and resilient future for Europe.

Across exhibitions, conferences, awards, workshops, talks and regional events, Irish Design Week creates opportunities for connection, collaboration and exchange. The programme celebrates Ireland’s world-class design talent while strengthening links with international partners and highlighting the contribution of design to culture, society and economic development.

At the heart of the week is the European Creative Industries Summit (ECIS) 2026, hosted in partnership with the Federation of European Creative Industries. Bringing together leading voices from across the continent, the summit explores some of the defining challenges and opportunities facing Europe, including economic competitiveness, artificial intelligence, sustainability, social innovation and democratic engagement, through the lens of creativity and design.

From Dublin to the regions, Irish Design Week 2026 demonstrates that design is more than a discipline. It is a powerful driver of innovation, culture and change. By connecting people, ideas and places, the festival showcases how Irish and European creativity can work together to build a better future.

Fáilte Future Europe. Welcome to Irish Design Week 2026.