Festivals in Ireland
CORK JAZZ FESTIVAL
Guinness Cork Jazz Festival takes place in late October each year in Ireland's scenic southern capital of Cork. It is one of Ireland's flagship arts and cultural events, attracting visitors from all over the world. The festival has gone from strength to strength with a outstanding programme of world class jazz and jazz related sounds in over 90 venues. It is renowned as one of the best jazz festivals in Europe. Over the years the many of the top names in jazz have featured including Ella Fitzgerald, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock , Dizzy Gillespie and dozens more. There's a superb music trail offering music free of entrance charges and a buzzing Festival Club - plus street entertainment, workshops, lectures, a jazz choir, a Jazz Camp for student musicians, and lots of participation events. Cork becomes Europe's jazz capital at the exciting Guinness Cork Jazz Festival weekend!
GALWAY OYSTER FESTIVAL
Every September since 1954, Clarenbrige in Galway has come alive with seafood & oysters as it celebrates the Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival, the most internationally recognised food festival in Ireland and the world's longest running International Oyster Festival. Any why is the Clarenbridge Oyster so famous? Well, quiet simply for the taste – it’s unrivalled. Nowhere else can match the perfect conditions that exist in Clarenbridge for growing and harvesting Oysters – a sheltered bay, a perfect ratio of fresh and salt water and added to this the skill and knowledge of the community. Throughout the festival, a host of tantalising events to whet your appetite will take place throughout Galway.Festival-goers will have an action-packed weekend, including: an electrifying musical line up, celebrity cook-offs, quality Irish seafood, the National Oyster Opening Competition, the World Oyster Opening Championship, tantalising meals in Galway's best restaurants, the glamorous black-tie gala ball, a colourful parade through the streets of Galway, and plenty of fun and laughter. Sample the world-famous Galway Bay oysters and the legendary craic of the West of Ireland at one of the biggest events on Ireland's social calendar.
ST. PATRICKS FESTIVAL
Celebrate Irelands national holiday – the day when everybody is a little bit Irish! Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious holiday celebrated on 17 March, the anniversary of his death. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official feast day in the early seventeenth century and has gradually become a celebration of Irish culture in general. It is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland but it is also widely celebrated by the Irish Diaspora across the globe making it the most celebrated saints day in the world. Dublin is the host of the largest parade in Ireland with over 3000 performers and on average 500,000 people attending. In addition to the legenday parade which immerses the city centre in a carnival atmosphere, the festival is bursting at the seams with music, dance, culture, family fun and more!
FLEADH CHEOIL NA HEIREANN
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (Festival of music in Ireland) has been running for over 60 years across Ireland. The goal of the Fleadh Cheoil has been to establish standards in Irish traditional music through competition. There are various stages to the competition. In Ireland there are county and provincial competitions leading to the All-Ireland Fleadh . Also it attracts overseas competitors as Britain and North America have regional stages of qualification for the All-Ireland. The Fleadh has developed as a mainly competitive event but it attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. The fleadh is an exciting week encompassing competitions ,sessions ,ceili bands, concerts, pageants, marching bands, drama and exhibitions all saluting the best of Irish Traditional culture.
Twice before, the All-Ireland Fleadh has been held in Ennis, in 1956 and 197