What's on in the Isle of Man — the year's events, month by month

The Isle of Man’s calendar has two kinds of event: motorbike racing, and old Manx traditions that the island has kept going. This page lists the stable, annual events month by month, with 2026 and 2027 dates where they’ve been published, and says which ones are worth planning a trip around. We checked every date against the organisers’ own websites in September 2026, and rechecked the racing and Parish Walk dates in October 2026. One-off gigs and shows change weekly, so for those use Visit Isle of Man’s listings (opens in a new tab).

If you’re choosing when to come, read our best time to visit guide too.

The year at a glance: 2026 and 2027 dates

Month	Main events	Dates
January–March	Quiet. Heritage season opens late March	Seasonal sites open 27 March 2026
April	Shennaghys Jiu (Ramsey); Manx Music Festival	2–5 April 2026; 25 April–2 May 2026
May	Pre-TT Classic Road Races (Billown)	28–30 May 2027
June	The TT; the Parish Walk	TT 31 May–12 June 2027; Parish Walk 26–27 June 2027
July	Tynwald Day; Southern 100; World Tin Bath Championships; Yn Chruinnaght	5 July, 12–15 July, 26 July–1 August 2027
August	Royal Manx Agricultural Show; Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT	Show 13–14 August 2027; Classic TT from 22 August 2027
September	Big Manx Feast; Cooish Vooar Manx language festival	19–20 September 2026; 25–29 September 2026
October	Heritage Open Days; Hop tu Naa	2–4 and 9–11 October 2026; 31 October
November	Heritage sites and railways close; Remembrance	1 November 2026; Remembrance Sunday 8 November 2026
December	Christmas; St Stephen’s Day cammag at St John’s	26 December

The rest of this page goes through each month.

January to March: the quiet season

Very little is aimed at visitors in winter. Most of what’s on is local: concerts, quizzes and pub nights. The island wakes up at the end of March, when Manx National Heritage reopens its seasonal sites and the heritage railways start running. In 2026 both began their season in late March. If you’re coming in the winter, come for the walking, the empty beaches and the dark skies, not for events.

April: music and the start of the season

• Shennaghys Jiu is a traditional music and dance festival based in Ramsey, held over the Easter weekend. It ran from 2 to 5 April in 2026 (shennaghysjiu.com (opens in a new tab)). It began in 1998.
• The Manx Music Festival, known locally as “the Guild”, is a week-long competitive music festival. It ran from 25 April to 2 May in 2026 (manxmusicfestival.org (opens in a new tab)). It’s mainly for local performers.

May: the run-up to TT

The Pre-TT Classic Road Races on the Billown Course near Castletown are for classic machines, and they’re a good warm-up to TT. The 2027 races are on Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May, finishing the day before TT qualifying starts (Southern 100 Racing (opens in a new tab)).

Late May is also when the TT crowds start to arrive, and ferries and beds fill up.

June: the TT and the Parish Walk

The TT is the island’s biggest event by a long way. TT 2027 runs from Monday 31 May to Saturday 12 June, with races from Saturday 5 June. The Senior TT is on Friday 11 June, which is also the island’s TT Bank Holiday. Everything else on the island bends around it: the Mountain Road goes one-way, the course closes for every session, and ferries sell out a year ahead. All the details are on our TT schedule page, and first-timers should start with our TT guide.

The Parish Walk follows at the end of the month. It’s an 85-mile walk past all 17 parish churches, with a 24-hour limit. Most people aim for Peel or Ballaugh rather than the whole thing. The 2027 walk is on Saturday 26 to Sunday 27 June (parishwalk.com (opens in a new tab)). It’s great to watch from a village church, and the roads are busy with support cars. How to enter, the route and where to watch are in our Parish Walk guide.

July: Tynwald Day and the Southern 100

July is the best month for events if you want variety.

• Tynwald Day is the national day. The Manx parliament meets in the open air on Tynwald Hill at St John’s, new laws are proclaimed in English and Manx, and there’s a fair. It’s on 5 July unless that’s a weekend, when it moves to the Monday. In 2026 it was Monday 6 July, and in 2027 it’s Monday 5 July. It’s a bank holiday. See our Tynwald Day guide.
• The Southern 100 road races on the Billown Course around Castletown run from Monday 12 to Thursday 15 July 2027. The grandstands are cheap, and bikes come past every couple of minutes. See our Southern 100 guide.
• The World Tin Bath Championships race tin baths around Castletown harbour on a weekend in early July. They’ve been organised by the Castletown Real Ale Drinkers Society since 1971, with proceeds to charity. In 2026 they fell on the weekend before the Southern 100.
• Yn Chruinnaght, the Celtic gathering in Peel, brings musicians and dancers from the Celtic nations for concerts, céilís and sessions. The 2027 festival runs from 26 July to 1 August (ynchruinnaght.com (opens in a new tab)).

August: the show and the second racing fortnight

• The Royal Manx Agricultural Show is a two-day farming show with livestock, trade stands, food and family entertainment. The 2027 show is on Friday 13 and Saturday 14 August (royalmanx.com (opens in a new tab)).
• The Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT bring racing back to the Mountain Course in the second half of the month. In 2026 they ran together from 16 to 28 August. The 2027 Classic TT is provisionally set for 22 August to 3 September, and the Manx Grand Prix’s 2027 dates weren’t confirmed when we checked in October 2026. It’s quieter and cheaper than TT, but the roads still close. See our Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT guide.

September: food and the Manx language

• The Big Manx Feast is the island’s food and drink festival, a relaunch of the old Isle of Man Food and Drink Festival. It ran on 19 and 20 September 2026 at Noble’s Park in Douglas, with a £10 weekend ticket and children free (bigmanxfeast.im (opens in a new tab)). The 2027 dates hadn’t been announced when we checked. Our food festival guide has the details, and it’s the easiest way to try queenies and other Manx food in one place.
• Cooish Vooar, a Manx language festival, ran from 25 to 29 September 2026 (Visit Isle of Man (opens in a new tab)).
• The island has also held a week-long walking festival, Walk the Isle of Man, in September. We couldn’t confirm its 2027 dates, so check Visit Isle of Man before planning a trip around it.

September is our favourite month for a quiet visit: the attractions are all still open and the roads are empty.

October: open doors and Hop tu Naa

• Isle of Man Heritage Open Days open up heritage buildings, including some that are usually closed to the public. In 2026 they ran over two weekends, 2–4 and 9–11 October (Manx National Heritage (opens in a new tab)).
• The Chris Kelly Memorial Rally, a car rally, ran on 2–3 October 2026.
• Hop tu Naa on 31 October is the Manx Halloween, with its roots in the Celtic new year. Children carve turnips, not pumpkins, and go round singing the Hop tu Naa song. In 2026 Manx National Heritage held a Hop tu Naa festival at Cregneash on the day, with turnip-carving sessions there in the week before and a Myths and Magic event at Peel Castle from 24 October to 1 November (MNH what’s on (opens in a new tab)). See our Hop tu Naa guide.

November and December: winter traditions

On 1 November the seasonal heritage sites close and the heritage railways finish for the year. After that, the Manx Museum in Douglas and the House of Manannan in Peel are the main attractions still open.

Remembrance Sunday was on 8 November in 2026, with services in the towns. In December, the towns hold their Christmas events, which are local rather than aimed at visitors. The Manx Museum closes over Christmas and New Year.

On 26 December, St Stephen’s Day, there’s an annual game of cammag at St John’s. It’s the old Manx stick-and-ball game, related to shinty and hurling, and the traditional start of its season was 26 December. You can watch from the grass banks beside the field.

Bank holidays

The island has two bank holidays you won’t find in the UK: the TT Bank Holiday (Friday 11 June in 2027, Senior TT day, according to Manx Radio (opens in a new tab) as gov.im hadn’t listed 2027 yet) and Tynwald Day (5 July in 2027). In 2026 they were 5 June and 6 July (gov.im (opens in a new tab)). Shops, banks and government offices close on both.

What’s missing from this page

Some events you might read about have stopped or paused. The Queenie Festival hasn’t run in recent years (see our queenies guide). Manx Litfest didn’t hold a festival in 2026, but it says it will be back with a full programme in 2027. We’ll add dates when they’re published.