The Slane Festival (often referred to as Slane) is a recurring concert held most years since 1981 on the grounds of Slane Castle on the outskirts of Slane in County Meath, Ireland. The castle is owned by The 8th Marquess Conyngham, who was known by the courtesy title the Earl of Mount Charles from 1974 until 2009. Slane lies between Navan and Drogheda, about 45 km northwest of Dublin. Concerts typically occur on a Saturday in August, from 12:00 to 22:00. The sloping grounds of Slane Castle form a natural amphitheatre which is ideal for concerts. As many as 70,000–110,000 people usually attend. One of the venue boundaries is the River Boyne. Two people died while trying to swim the river to gain free access to R.E.M.'s concert in 1995. The minimum age of admission to the Slane Festival was reduced in 2006 from 18 to 16 because of complaints.
Aiken Promotions invited artists such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Bruce Springsteen to perform during the 1980s. 2001 and 2013 are the only years in which two concerts were held in the same year. In 2001, both concerts were headlined by U2. In 2013, the first concert was headlined by Bon Jovi and the second by Eminem, who had controversially cancelled his 2005 Slane appearance after entering drug rehabilitation.
The most recent Slane Festival took place on 18 and 19 July 2025, headlined by Luke Combs.
Multiple appearances Guns N' Roses, the Rolling Stones and U2 are the only bands to have headlined the event more than once, and U2 have played twice in one year. Thin Lizzy are the only band to headline and come back as a support act. Several other acts, listed below, have supported a headliner and returned as a headliner themselves.
Act Years Guns N' Roses 1992, 2017 Foo Fighters 2003, 2015 Oasis 1995, 2009, 2027 Red Hot Chili Peppers 2001, 2003 Robbie Williams 1998, 1999 The Rolling Stones 1982, 2007 Stereophonics 1999, 2002 Thin Lizzy 1981, 2011 U2 1981, 1983, 2001 (twice)
Some acts, listed below, have appeared more than once but never as a headline act:
Act Years Ash 20011, 2015 Big Country 1983, 1987 James 1993, 1998 Dara 2000, 20011 Moby 2000, 20011 The Charlatans 2002, 2007 1. The second of two concerts that occurred in this year.
List of Slane lineups 1980s The first Slane Festival was held on 16 August 1981U2 October Tour: 1 October leg: Europe: 1981-08-16: Slane Castle - Slane, Ireland U2gigs.com. Retrieved: 2013-07-19. by the Earl of Mount Charles (as The 8th Marquess Conyngham was then known). Concerts followed each year until 1987. The seven concerts of the 1980s were headlined respectively by Thin Lizzy, The Rolling Stones, U2, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Queen and David Bowie. For the third concert in 1983, headlined for the first time by U2, Slane Castle was refused permission to hold a concert, so it was held in the Phoenix Park Racecourse in Dublin on 14 August 1983, the only occasion it has been held outside Slane. U2 appeared at Slane in 1981 and 1983, whilst in 1984 Bono performed a duet with Bob Dylan during the latter's encore. This was the last appearance by a member of U2 on the Slane stage until their unique double-headliner in 2001. Thus, Bono has appeared at Slane on a total of five occasions, three of these being in the first four concerts.
1981, 16 August Mama's Boys U2 - October Tour Hazel O'Connor's Megahype Rose Tattoo Sweet Savage The Bureau Thin Lizzy (headliner)
1982, 24 July The J. Geils Band The Chieftains George Thorogood and the Destroyers The Rolling Stones (headliner)"Rainy days & festivals". Irish Independent. 9 July 2004.
1983, 14 August This year, the concert was held at the Phoenix Park Racecourse in Dublin. Perfect Crime http://www.irishrock.org/irodb/bands/perfectcrime.html Perfect Crime page at IrishRock.org Steel Pulse Big Country Eurythmics Simple Minds U2 - War Tour (headliner) after the show the fans went on to sing 40 for over 15 minutes
1984, 8 July In Tua Nua UB40 Santana Bob Dylan (headliner) with guests Carlos Santana, Van Morrison, and Bono during encores.
1985, 1 June Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their debut Irish concert in front of 100,000 people, and performed for nearly three hours with no support acts.
While Springsteen sang The River, footage of the nearby River Boyne was shown on video screens; the footage was retained for the rest of his tour. Elvis Costello and members of Spandau Ballet and U2 were the then Lord Mount Charles's guests who enjoyed smoked salmon and champagne on the day.
1986 The Hits Chris Rea The Fountainhead The Bangles Queen (headliner)
1987 Aslan Big Country The Groove David Bowie (headliner)
1990s After a five-year absence, the longest since the event began in 1981, Slane Festival returned in 1992. The five concerts of the 1990s were headlined respectively by Guns N' Roses, Neil Young, R.E.M., The Verve and Robbie Williams. The 1995 concert, headlined by R.E.M., was notable for the death of someone who attempted to swim the nearby River Boyne to reach the concert area. The same concert marked the debut of Oasis on the Slane stage; they returned in 2009 to headline the event. The 1998 event was headlined by The Verve, their last appearance in Ireland until Oxegen 2008; in 1998 the band appeared alongside special guests Manic Street Preachers and also Robbie Williams who would return the following year to headline. Stereophonics played support in 1999 and returned to headline in 2002.
1992 My Little Funhouse Faith No More Guns N' Roses (headliner)
1993 The Blue Angels 4 Non Blondes James Saw Doctors Van Morrison Pearl Jam Neil Young (headliner)
1995 On 22 July 1995, R.E.M. played Slane on their first concert following Mike Mills's appendectomy. They were supported by Oasis, whose album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? would be released 3 months later and would return to headline the event in 2009. One fan threw a rock at the stage as Oasis prepared to play "Roll with It". This provoked Liam Gallagher to say, "If you don't like it, go fucking hang yourself". In 2009, this performance was described as being by "a lairy mob with attitude and half a dozen memorable songs to their credit".
The following performed at Slane Festival in 1995:
Luka Bloom Spearhead Belly Sharon Shannon Oasis R.E.M. (headliner)
1998 Finlay Quaye Junkster James The Seahorses Robbie Williams Special Guests Manic Street Preachers The Verve (headliner)
1999 28 August 1999
Simon Carmody David Gray Gomez Placebo Happy Mondays Stereophonics Robbie Williams (headliner)
2000s The eight concerts of the 2000s were headlined respectively by Bryan Adams, U2 (twice), Stereophonics, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Madonna, The Rolling Stones and Oasis. Unusually, two concerts were held during 2001 (the Taoiseach asked the Minister for the Environment to fast-track some new legislation to allow the second concert to happen), both headlined by U2 and both featuring an entirely different set of support acts that brought the Slane debuts of Coldplay, Nelly Furtado, Ash, Kelis, The Walls and JJ72 whilst offering returns to Moby and Dara. Red Hot Chili Peppers also appeared for the first time and would return to headline the 2003 event.
The 2005 concert was intended to centre on rap instead of rock music, but Eminem cancelled his appearance (due on 17 September that year with support from 50 Cent, D-12, Obie Trice, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, Olivia, Atlanta's Stat Quo and Flipsyde) after the event sold out. The promoter, MCD Productions, sought damages in the High Court. The resultant two-year break in 2005 and 2006 was followed by a return to Slane by The Rolling Stones, only the second artist after U2 to headline the event in two different years, and marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of their first appearance in 1982. Henry Conyngham's delay in the picking of suitable acts led to no concert in 2008; however Oasis headlined the final concert of Slane's third decade in 2009 with support from The Prodigy, Kasabian, Glasvegas and The Blizzards.
2000 Macy Gray Muse Eagle-Eye Cherry Dara Screaming Orphans Melanie C Moby Bryan Adams (headliner)
2001 U2's headlining appearance sold out in 45 minutes. The first concert occurred the week after Bono's father died.U2 and Slane Castle gear up for 20-year reunion. RTÉ. The second concert coincided with the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2 match between the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands, and was shown between Nelly Furtado and Ash at the request of fans. The second show was also filmed for the live video U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle, Ireland.
First concert 25 August 2001
Relish Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication Tour Coldplay Kelis JJ72 U2 - Elevation Tour (headliner)
Second concert 1 September 2001
Moby with Ardal O'Hanlon Ash (replacement for Foo Fighters) Nelly Furtado The Walls Dara U2 - Elevation Tour (headliner)
2002 Saturday 24 August 2002
Ocean Color Scene Nickelback Counting Crows Doves The Revs The Charlatans, special guests Stereophonics (headliner)
2003 Saturday 23 August 2003
The Red Hot Chili Peppers concert was filmed for the live video Live at Slane Castle.
Halite Morcheeba Feeder"Feeder are added to '03 Slane bill". RTÉ. 6 March 2003. PJ Harvey Queens of the Stone Age Foo Fighters Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way World Tour (headliner)"Chili Peppers Slane show confirmed". RTÉ. 26 February 2003.
2004 The Madonna concert at Slane was compared to a football match by one manager, Johnny McDonnell. The Irish Times selected "This is the big time, it's like Madonna coming to Slane" as one of its quotes of that year.
The Darkness Iggy Pop and the Stooges Paul Oakenfold Madonna (headliner)
2007 The Irish Independent described The Rolling Stones playing to "a mostly middle-aged crowd who were content to stand back, shielded from the rain in their wax jackets, and let the concert wash over them". Frankie Gavin Tinariwen The Hold Steady The Charlatans The Rolling Stones (headliner, in front of 68,647 people)
2009
Oasis were joined by family members, including their mother Peggy, for the show. They began their performance with "Rock 'n' Roll Star" and finished with "Live Forever" and then returned for an encore of "Don't Look Back in Anger", "Falling Down", "Champagne Supernova" and "I Am the Walrus". Liam Gallagher shouted at the fans: "Slane Castle, you've been fucking biblical". Oasis split up two months later.
Several Irish celebrities attended the concert, including footballers Gary Kelly, Stephen Ireland and John O'Shea and solicitor Gerald Kean.
Ten people were detained on public order offences throughout the day of the concert, including two people who were arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. MCD Productions asked fans to report any problems after complaints regarding transport facilities. Fiach Kelly, writing in The Irish Independent, reported on the "yoof element" where "you could be forgiven for thinking you had arrived at a rather large teenage disco".
The Blizzards Glasvegas Kasabian The Prodigy Oasis (headliner)
2010s 2010 There was no concert in 2010. Henry Conyngham had written in an Evening Herald column in February that Slane 2010 would take place in August and that it would involve an "international artist" but that he was still organising the event with Denis Desmond. However, he said during an interview in April on RTÉ Radio that there would not be a concert that year.
2011 Kings of Leon played what was announced by the band onstage as their longest set ever.
The Whigs Mona Thin Lizzy White Lies Elbow Kings of Leon (headliner)"Full line-up for Slane is confirmed". RTÉ. 5 April 2011."Revised times for Slane sets". RTÉ. 27 May 2011.
2012 In April 2012, Slane Castle's official Facebook page announced there would be no concert in 2012. The message read: "Good Morning guys, Lord Henry has announced this morning 'there will be no Slane this year, but 2013 will be busy'".
2013