Irish Festivals

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.