5 Unmissable Free Music Acts at IMMA’s Earth Rising Festival This Weekend
EARTH RISING returns to IMMA this year as a vibrant festival of art, ecology, music, and ideas. Inspired by Staying with the Trouble, IMMA’s current exhibition rooted in Donna Haraway’s influential text, the festival asks how we can live differently in times of planetary breakdown, not by looking away, but by staying with it together.
EARTH RISING 2025 features over 50 free events designed to inspire, connect, and activate. And because saving the world needs a soundtrack, Hen’s Teeth have curated a music line-up that’s absolutely fire. Fusing alternative R&B, indie-pop, trad chaos, and global folk into three days of unapologetically future-facing sound, you can find these acts at the Greenhouse Stage / Courtyard at IMMA.
Negro Impacto
Saturday 13 September, 13:00
This Dundalk duo a redefining alt-R&B with an indie soul and unstoppable chemistry. Expect raw honesty, wrapped in feel good grooves that will have you dancing and singing along. Every festival wants them, EARTH RISING got them.
EFÉ
Saturday 13 September, 17:30
EFÉ turns diary entries into indie-pop rock anthems that explode live. She’s Dublin’s DIY star turned global contender, and every set feels like a breakthrough. She’s setting the pace for Ireland’s new wave of creatives.
Sailhymn: Seeds for Songs with Brilliant Ballybunion
Sunday 14 September, 11:30
Salihymn’s music is a spiritual homecoming. They speak about body, land, and identity in constant dialogue. Rooted in Ballybunion yet reaching far beyond, their songs shimmer with heritage and transformation. This performance will be as tender as it is radical.
Mohammad Syfkhan
Sunday 14 September, 13:00
Mohammad is a master of celebration and survival. He blends Kurdish folk with Irish collaboration. His shows are a rush of rhythm, dance, and deep soul. This is a story of migration turned into music.
Ispíní na hÉireann
Sunday 14 September, 17:30
This is trad turned inside-out, blown wide open with sax, banjo, and raw Dublin energy. Ispíní na hÉireann are chaos merchants with serious chops. Folk never sounded so feral.
EARTH RISING 2025 isn’t just a festival, it’s a movement. Running 12-14 September at IMMA and across Dublin, it unites music, art, ecology, and collective imagination like no other. This year also marks IMMA becoming the first major cultural institution in Ireland to sign up to Culture Declares Emergency, joining a global call for urgent, creative responses to the climate crisis.
From Dundalk soul to Kurdish fire, indie-rock daydreams to trad gone rogue, these sets are future folklore in the making. And the best part? They’re all free. So bring your mates, your moves, and your ears.
