Irish Festivals

festival

It should not be surprising that there are festivals which take place all over Ireland, all year long. The Irish love to celebrate just about anything, so attending a festival in Ireland is a great way to see the country and the residents at their finest. Some of the festival highlights throughout the year include:

  • St. Patrick’s Festival – Ireland’s patron saint is celebrated mightily here, as this is also Ireland’s biggest national holiday. Just about anywhere you go in March you will find a festival, but the best is arguably in Dublin.
  • The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival – Each June, Kilkenny hosts a comedy festival that brigns in funny men and women from all over the world.
  • The Clonmel Junction Festival – Banners and flags fill Clonmel each July directing people to the city center where there are many theater and music performances.
  • Puck Fair – The town of Killorglin is where you will find this big street fair each August.
  • Rose of Tralee Festival – Tralee plays host to one of Ireland’s biggest and best-known festivals each August, at which the highlight is the crowning of one young lady as the “Rose of Tralee.”
  • Galway International Oyster Festival – One of the best-known festivals in Ireland, this is a must for foodies in late September.
  • Dublin Fringe Festival – This alternative theatre festival runs for a couple of weeks each September.
  • Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival – Each September and October, the old tradition of matchmaking is revived in the town of Lisdoonvarna.
  • Cork Jazz Festival – Cork hosts Ireland’s biggest jazz festival each year in October, bringing in musicians from all over the world.
  • Halloween Festival – Londonderry claims to have the world’s biggest Halloween celebration, where you and 30,000 of your closest friends also take this moment to ring in the Celtic New Year each October.
  • Wexford Opera Festival – From late October to early November, Wexford is the place to be for opera lovers.

It may seem like common sense, but it never hurts to repeat common sense – festivals like these are popular not just with tourists, but also with locals and people from other parts of Ireland. So even if you are the only non-Irish person in attendance, these towns can get extremely crowded during these festivals. That means you may have trouble finding cheap accommodation – so book well in advance if you know you want to attend one of the many festivals in Ireland.