Which Irish festival is worth building a trip around in each season?
Build around one per season and the trip shapes itself. Winter: TradFest fills Temple Bar's pubs and churches with traditional music for five days each January. Spring: St Patrick's Festival, five days around 17 March, with the Dublin parade at its centre and a parade in nearly every town besides. Summer: the Galway Races run a full week at the turn of August with the city in festival mode, and the Fleadh Cheoil, the world's biggest traditional music gathering, lands in its host town each year, Belfast in 2026 and 2027. Autumn: the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival takes the October bank holiday weekend, and Wexford Festival Opera runs rare operas for over a fortnight. Book the bed the week you book the ticket: festival towns fill.
Useful pages: Events in Ireland · Festivals and events guide · Irish sport · Irish festivals to experience
Sources
- Festival dates from the festival organisers
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