NTIF 2027 is officially in the planning stages, and do we have some surprises in store for you! For quite a while now we have heard rumblings and comments about the festival feeling a little stagnant, not much new to see, the location not working as well as it could. We heard you, it just took a while to put something new together. All the puzzle pieces finally fit and the stars aligned, and NTIF is moving to a new home! And for 2027, a new date as well. I know the news has been out for a few days now but perhaps your haven’t heard, so here we go!

Our new home will be the North Texas Fairgrounds in Denton, TX! We are so excited about this move, as it will enable us to create the kind of environment that we have been missing; an exciting, cohesive, music-filled event with lots to listen to, see, shop, eat and drink and just enjoy being together. We will be primarily outdoors now but there are quite a few covered areas and plenty of tents in the plan.

As we relocate things will be a little different, but different isn’t bad! We are moving our weekend for 2027, as there was a conflict with the new location – our normal Saturday was already booked there. So NTIF 2027 will take place on March 13-14. We will not be open on Friday night.

All of this will enable us to regain full control of our event and give us the ability to direct and grow it as we wish. And it will be fun to embrace a new space and see what our imagination can do to give it a new personality.

The City of Denton and Discover Denton are so very excited to have us moving to their city. Denton has long been a center for Arts and Music, and they have been very welcoming to us and our event. They are already looking forward to partnering with us and supporting and promoting the festival. One of their key people is a huge Irish music fan and the other just loves Ireland in general! It’s really starting to seem like a great fit.

We will also have a new hotel and more information on that, and so many other things will be forthcoming in the not too distant future. For the vast majority of you, travelling to Denton will be a lot easier, and maybe even closer, than Fair Park, so travel should not be a deterrent. I think you’ll like the parking situation a lot better too!

We are asking everyone to support us as best you can, give all of this a chance, and give us all a little grace as we navigate the new space. No doubt some of the ideas we have that look great on paper may not translate to reality, so know that we are going to probably make a few mistakes, but we learn fast! This next festival is not on our usual weekend, so there will be changes due to that as well. We have always enjoyed wonderful support from all of you, and I hope that the changes we are making will make the event much more fun and enjoyable for all of us. Thank you so much!