Welcome to Shine Festival!
Who We Are
SHINE Festival is a high-energy, inspiring day created exclusively for Transition Year girls, designed to support them to feel more confident, connected and comfortable being themselves. SHINE Festival is unique in its design, in that we aim to ensure every girl who attends sees herself, her dreams and/or beliefs represented by the women on stage.
It’s an uplifting, fun day out that brings teenage girls together to feel seen, supported and more confident in who they are. Through inspiring speakers, honest conversations, music, and interactive moments, Shine creates a space where students can step away from pressure for a while and reconnect with themselves and each other.
The content is designed around what girls are actually navigating right now, from confidence and self-worth, to friendships, social pressure, identity and the everyday noise that can make teenage life feel a lot. Shine is not about telling girls what to do or who to be. It’s about helping them realise they’re not alone, and giving them language, perspective and tools they can bring back into school life.
Shine is a powerful complement to wellbeing and personal development work in schools. It’s an experience students genuinely engage with, and one that often sparks ongoing conversations in the classroom afterwards. Check out our highlight reel here!
In 2025 alone, we reached over 46,000 young girls in Ireland across 328 schools.
To date, we have reached over 60,000+ girls through SHINE.
And you know what?!? We’re only getting started.
Shine Festival 2026
“When girls support each other, there’s no limit to what we can achieve”
SHINE Festival is an inspirational two-day online event organised by The Shona Project., our partners and supporters.
SHINE Festival supports SPHE learning outcomes and the Bí Cineálta framework by creating a safe, respectful space where TY girls are encouraged to reflect on identity, self-worth, relationships and the pressures they experience in everyday life.
Through honest conversations, shared experiences and relatable role models, SHINE helps students recognise that feeling unsure, overwhelmed or different is part of being human, not a personal failure. The festival promotes empathy, inclusion and connection, while supporting girls to develop self-compassion, confidence and a stronger sense of belonging.
SHINE does not seek to fix students or provide clinical intervention. Instead, it complements existing wellbeing and SPHE provision by helping girls feel seen, understood and less alone, which is central to positive school culture and the aims of Bí Cineálta.
Therefore, we have put together a pack full of lesson plans that links our Digital Shine Festival with the Learning Outcomes (LOs) for Wellbeing.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Venue: SETU Arena, Carriganore, Waterford. X91 XD96 - please ensure you give your bus driver this address and Eircode so that you do not go into the University’s main campus in the city.
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Parking: Coach parking will be available for you on the day at the venue so drivers will need to follow directions from parking attendants who will be there to guide and assist.
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Event Times: Please arrive for registration between 9:30 am and 10:00 am on the morning of Shine
Running Order: The event will open at 9:30 am with the main stage show starting at 10:30 am sharp. We will require all guests to be seated for show by 10:25 am.
The day will be filled with conversations from authentic Irish women, along with some meditation, dancing and singing!
The event will end at 3:00 pm. We ask that schools do not leave before end of show as its incredibly disruptive to speakers.
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€10 per student (teachers attend free)
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Students are asked to bring a packed lunch to the event, lunch will be scheduled for 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm. Light refreshments will be available for purchase at the venue.. All food brought by students MUST be consumed in the main hall and NOT in any other area of the venue.
This event is for students who identify as girls and non-binary students who resonate with girl-focused conversations. The content over the two days has been built to reflect the experiences of growing up as a young woman in Ireland.
Medics will be on-site to cover first aid if required. If students do need supporting medication as a standard day of school, we advise this to be brought with them.
Students can wear whatever they would like. In the past, schools have opted to wear their school’s PE uniform as the students will be singing, dancing and moving around throughout the day.
Teachers MUST stay with their students in the hall for the duration of the day.
Service dogs may be on site as they will accompany speakers on the show days.
A quiet room has been made available for students who might need a moment to step away from the hustle and bustle of the day.
We do encourage students to bring their phones so they may take photos and share their experiences of the day. We only ask that they keep their phones on silent and are respectful while people are speaking and give their full attention.
We will be asking students to provide feedback through a QR code, with prizes to give away. Please note that we will only be gathering the students' names and the name of the school with no contact information and when winners are confirmed we will liaise directly with teachers.
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Contact: In the event that you are delayed or experience any difficulties getting to the event, please reach out to our School Liaison on 086 014 4728.
For general queries please reach out to the team on education@shona.ie.
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