We had a blast in Ireland for the past three years! Enjoy the recap video and read on to learn more about the event!
For one final Alumni Week in Ireland, the Up with People alumni community came together July 20–26 at the University of Limerick for a week filled with music, memories, cultural exploration—and, most importantly, connection.
Throughout the week, alumni had opportunities to create their own experience and it was as rigorous or as slow-paced as they preferred. There were workshops and sessions, Irish cultural experiences, day trips, time to relax with friends from casts and crews, awards and performances, dance parties, and meals together. Younger family members also had their own UWP-inspired experience through the Legacy Programme, with opportunities in the performing arts, cultural awareness, volunteerism, leadership and global citizenship.
Some alumni began their experience before arriving in Limerick, joining the Language of Peace Belfast Study Group or the Irish Music & Pub Crawl. During Alumni Week, day trips took participants throughout the region, including to the Cliffs of Moher and the Irish-speaking island of Inis Oírr, as well as a variety of cultural, historical and culinary destinations.
After everyone returned home, we asked attendees what they remembered most, and as alumni, it will be no surprise to read that the answer wasn’t only about where they went or how many activities they attended.
It was about who they were with.
“Having time with friends from my cast, and in the meantime having my kids experiencing the Legacy programme. :)”
That sentiment appears again and again in the Alumni Week survey. Respondents talked about reconnecting after decades apart, sharing meals, having emotional cast conversations, singing and performing together, and forming new relationships with people whose lives had once intersected with their own through Up with People.
One attendee summed up the week this way:
“Reconnecting with cast mates was the most important part of the reunion. The location and dorms just added to the whole experience. Everything on campus was fantastic! I wish I could go back and attend classes on campus.”
Back on Stage
For many, some of the most powerful moments happened when alumni weren’t simply remembering their UWP years—they were reliving a piece of them.
Rehearsals, cast photos and the Thursday and Friday performances brought alumni back together on the concert hall’s stage, and the week concluded with Saturday supper and dancing to the familiar tunes of the UWP Survival Band.
Asked about a highlight, one respondent needed only a few words:
“Both shows, being back on stage, singing together.”
Survey responses consistently placed the cast shows and performances among the week’s favorite activities. Singing together allowed alumni to do more than reminisce; it gave them an opportunity to reconnect through something they once shared so deeply.
Experiencing Ireland Together
Ireland itself was also an important part of the experience.
For some alumni, particularly those living in Europe, the event being hosted in Limerick made Alumni Week more accessible. For others, Ireland was a destination they had always wanted to visit—and Alumni Week became the centerpiece of a larger Irish vacation.
The combination of Ireland and dear friends, and making NEW friends and connections proved especially memorable. Survey respondents singled out the Cliffs of Moher, Inis Oírr, Killarney, Belfast and other cultural experiences, but their comments often paired the destination with the people they saw.
As one attendee put it:
“We could walk around with different groups of people for the time that we wanted for each. It was easy to change and meet new people.”
Another chose a very different Irish experience as a highlight:
“Top highlight: political three hours walk in Belfast, 90 minutes on each side of the ‘peace wall’.”
From dramatic coastlines and Irish culture to conversations about history and peacebuilding, the experiences away from campus gave alumni something new to discover together.
Another said:
“A fantastic week! Thank you for all your efforts. Extending the time to a week made it feel less frantic and less exhausting. Loved breaking up the awards and shows into 2 integrated events. Appreciated the cultural visits (castles) as well as visitors (dancers, musicians, hounds). Excellent job!”
“UWP Survival Band (SPECTACULAR!!), LOVED living in the dorms with best friends!, the excursions (and variety offered) are amazing — also fun being on buses and meeting alumni from all different eras.”
Making Space for Connection
When Alumni Week was developed, one of the goals of the weeklong format was to give alumni more time and space to reconnect while still providing opportunities to learn, travel and experience another culture.
The 2026 survey suggests that goal matters enormously.
Attendees enjoyed having choices, but they also told us that some of their most meaningful experiences happened outside the formal schedule: group dinners, walks, informal meetings, local outings—or simply sitting together and talking. One informal cast meeting was inspiring enough that the group began planning its next reunion.
And when asked what would add value to future Alumni Weeks, two themes stood out: more time with cast and crew and unscheduled time to make plans together without missing other activities.
It’s an important reminder that sometimes the best thing we can put on the schedule is nothing at all.
It Takes a Community
A week like this doesn’t happen without dedicated alumni volunteers.
From months of preparation for the buses, check-in, activities, performances and the countless questions answered and unexpected needs that arise during an international event, alumni volunteers helped make the week possible. Survey respondents overwhelmingly described their interactions with volunteers positively, calling them helpful, committed and essential to the experience.
One attendee offered a thank-you that speaks for many:
“Thank you BOG and all volunteers! You did it again and without your efforts and time, many connections wouldn’t be possible.”
That last phrase may say the most of all: making connections possible.
Because while the planned activities gave the week its rhythm, survey responses suggest that the real value was found in the relationships woven through all of them. In fact, when attendees were asked what contributed most to the value of Alumni Week, time and connection with their cast, crew and other alumni emerged as the strongest factor.
Even some of the attendees who initially questioned the cost saw it differently after experiencing the week:
“I thought originally it was too much but now realise it was exceptionally good value.”
From an Irish Hooley to a Mexican Fiesta
After three years of Annual Alumni Week in Limerick, our Irish adventure has come to a close. Next July, Alumni Week begins a new chapter in Ensenada, Mexico.
The scenery, culture and traditions will change. There will be new experiences to explore and new memories to make.
If Limerick taught us anything, it’s that the destination is only part of the story.
What makes Alumni Week special is what happens when people who once traveled the world together have the chance to find one another again—when decades disappear over dinner, when familiar voices join together in song, when reminiscing leads to new conversations, and when people who haven’t seen each other in 20 or 40 years rediscover the threads that connect us all, it makes it all worth it.
