Commons:Wiki Loves Folklore 2026 in Ireland
*Deadline extended to 7 April*
Wiki Loves Folklore is an international photographic competition to enjoy and celebrate the cultural diversity from around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons). Everybody can participate.
In Ireland, we are calling on people to dive into their photo archives or visit local sites with connections of Irish culture, folklore or storytelling and upload them to win!
The basic aim of the competition is to collect photos of human cultural diversity to illustrate articles in the worldwide free encyclopaedia Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects. The photos provided must match the theme, including, but not limited to festivals, material culture, dances, cuisine, clothing or daily life routine emphasizing on folk culture of the island of Ireland.
To find out about all the other national competitions taking place, visit the international website.
The contest in Ireland is organized by Wikimedia Community Ireland.
==Last Year's Winners==-
Clifden Castle, a ruined manor house west of the town of Clifden in the Connemara region of County Galway, built c.1818.
Photograph: Michael Deligan -
Loaves of bread in a basket surrounded by willow baskets made by Sarah from the west end in Galway city.
Photograph: Mollymaps -
The St. Patrick's Day parade 2023 in Dublin, Ireland, featuring a giant, green, alien-like creature on a float.
Photograph: Thoslee
2026 Categories
This year, we are introducing themed categories to help guide your photography and celebrate different aspects of Irish folk culture:
Gaeil | Irish Language Personalities
Capture photos of notable figures in the Irish language community – writers, musicians, activists, educators, media personalities, and cultural leaders. These images will help illustrate biographies on Vicipéid (Irish Wikipedia) and English Wikipedia.
Ceardaíocht Traidisiúnta | Traditional Crafts
Document traditional Irish crafts and artisans at work: St Brigid's cross making, basket weaving, pottery, thatching, blacksmithing, lace making, knitting, woodwork, and more.
Bia Traidisiúnta | Traditional Food
Photograph traditional Irish food, cooking methods, ingredients, and food-related customs: from barmbrack and boxty to soda bread, colcannon, and seasonal dishes.
Top tips
Criteria
The jury will judge individual entries based on the following criteria (in no particular order):
- Technical quality
- Originality
- Potential usefulness and overall value of the image (including its licensing) to the Wikimedia projects
Out and about
- Please be respectful and considerate to your fellow photographers, and to others.
- If you are photographing building interiors, stop straight away if you are asked to do so. Some places prohibit interior photography, but in others you may be allowed to continue if you ask for permission.
- Do not trespass on private property (it is perfectly OK, though, to take photographs while standing in a public place such as the street).
- Where possible avoid photographing vehicles, and particularly vehicle numberplates.
- Please do not upload photographs of posters, noticeboards, signs, or anything else having text or two-dimensional images that might be copyright-protected. That applies even to text or images that are in a public place and that everyone else is taking pictures of. Ancient wall paintings in churches are fine, as are photos of stained glass windows of any date.
Contest Timeline
- 1 February: The contest officially opens, and uploading of photos begins.
- 31 March: Contest closes, and uploading of photos ends.
- May: Winners will be announced.
Jury
Aideen Herron: Heritage Project Assistant at CITB NI,
Hannah Gallagher: Assistant Keeper at Irish Folklife Division, National Museum of Ireland (Country Life)
Cúán de Búrca: Irish-language content creator, poet, writer, rapper and media professional, co-creates and co-presents podcast 'Dúchas' which discusses Irish folklore, history, heritage and mythology through Irish.
Statistics
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Participate
Take a photo and upload it to Wikimedia CommonsMake sure to enter your email address on your Wikimedia profile otherwise we may not have a way to contact you if you win one of the prizes.
Prizes
You can win the following prizes:
- 1st Prize: €250
- 2nd Prize: €150
- 3rd Prize: €100
Contact us!
There are several ways to contact us:
- Write us on our discussion page.
- Send us an email to info
wikimedia.ie - Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, or Bluesky
Identify some Irish intangible cultural heritage
From festivals, crafts, traditional food, dances, furniture, clothing or daily life - find inspiration for your images here.
Take photos
Take as many and as good photos as you can, try different angles. Even if the photo doesn't win you a prize, it may help Wikipedia!
Describe your images
Describe what you photographed in the image description and captions. Record the place's name, description, and date of photo.
