What's On in Kerry

Cahersiveen’s community festival takes over the Ring of Kerry town for the August bank holiday weekend, with a programme built around four strands: music, arts, community, and outdoor and wellness. Live bands share the bill with spoken-word poetry, art exhibitions and murder-mystery theatre, while families are well looked after with magic shows, face painting and parades.

The outdoor strand makes good use of the town’s waterside setting, with kayaking and yoga sessions among the activities on offer. It is a determinedly family-focused and affordable weekend rather than a big commercial festival, and much of the entertainment happens on the streets and in the town’s venues.

An adult wristband covers the whole weekend at €30, with children’s wristbands (ages 5–15) just €5. A few of the special outdoor and wellness events are ticketed separately, so check the programme on the festival website before you travel.

The Dingle Races are racing as it used to be everywhere in Ireland: horse and pony racing run in a field at Ballintaggart, just outside Dingle town, over the first weekend of August. Twenty races are spread across the three days, competing for a total prize fund of €40,000.

It is a proper local occasion as much as a sporting one. Alongside the racing there is plenty for families, with bouncy castles and fair stands around the field, and the town itself is at its liveliest over the race weekend.

Racing starts at 4pm on the Friday and at 2.30pm on both Saturday and Sunday, so there is time for a morning on the peninsula before heading to the course. Tickets are available through the official website.

Billed as Ireland’s oldest festival, Puck Fair has roots in the old Gaelic calendar and centres on a famously odd tradition: a wild mountain goat is crowned King Puck and presides over Killorglin for the three days of the fair, with the dethronement ceremony marking its close on the final night.

Around the goat, the town gives itself over to celebration. There is free family-friendly street entertainment every day — tumblers, walkabout acts and street performers — along with live music and fireworks. The organisers describe it as a time when old friends meet and the cares of everyday living are put on hold, and that gathering feel is a big part of its charm.

Everything on the streets is free, which makes it an easy day out with children. Killorglin is a small town and the fair draws big crowds, so arrive early and expect it to be busy.

One of Ireland’s best-known festivals, the Rose of Tralee sees 32 Roses representing Irish communities in the UK, America, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Europe, the Middle East and Ireland itself converge on Tralee for five days in August. For visitors, the draw is the free town-centre programme that runs all week: parades, live street entertainment, a funfair, markets, circus performances and fireworks.

The centrepiece is the pair of televised Selection Nights at MTU’s Kerry Sports Academy on Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 August, broadcast live on RTÉ, with the new International Rose of Tralee announced on the Tuesday evening.

The street festival costs nothing and is very family-friendly. Selection Night tickets cost €90 per night, or €165 for both nights booked together, and are sold through the festival website — worth securing early, as they went on sale in June.

Held each August in the sheltered waters of Dingle harbour, the Dingle Regatta is one of the Kerry coast’s long-running rowing events, built around racing in the naomhóg — the light, canvas-skinned currach that has been rowed on the peninsula for generations. Crews come from Dingle and from rowing clubs further afield to compete over the weekend, with heats and finals rowed close to the pier where spectators gather.

It is a relaxed, community-minded event rather than a ticketed spectacle: the racing is free to watch from the quayside, and the town’s pubs and restaurants carry the atmosphere on into the evening. The name will be familiar to many from the well-known tune “The Dingle Regatta”.

Dingle is busy across August, so if you are travelling for the weekend it is worth sorting accommodation in the town well in advance. The dates for 2026 are confirmed as Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August.

Fair day comes to Kenmare every 15 August, and it is the real thing — a true traditional fair of the kind long gone from most Irish towns. Livestock is still bought and sold on the street: cattle, horses, ponies and donkeys alongside pigs, pups, chicks, ducklings and even the odd ferret.

Between the animals, stalls line the town selling locally produced food — breads, cheese, smoked salmon, fish pâté, periwinkles and dulse — as well as clothes, tools and toys. Fortune tellers and street performers add to the atmosphere, and the day doubles as a great gathering, with people returning year after year.

Kenmare is exceptionally busy on the day, so if you plan to stay or eat in town, book accommodation and dinner well in advance. Wandering the fair itself costs nothing, and it pairs well with a day exploring the Ring of Kerry or Beara roads that meet in the town.

Killarney Racecourse invites racegoers to “take the scenic route”, and its August festival is the pick of the late-summer calendar: three days of racing from Thursday 20 to Saturday 22 August at one of the most attractively situated tracks in Ireland.

Race meetings here are as much social occasions as sporting ones. The course offers four tailored hospitality packages to suit different budgets, from value-focused options to BBQ experiences and premium dining, alongside general admission.

Killarney runs four festival meetings in 2026 — May, July, August and October — so if you miss the August dates, the October festival (20–22 October) closes out the season. Tickets and packages for all meetings are available through the racecourse website, and the course is within easy reach of Killarney town’s hotels and restaurants.

The Harvest Festival is the high point of the year in Listowel: a full week of racing, running for seven consecutive days from 20 to 26 September 2026. The card mixes flat and National Hunt racing across the week, which is part of what draws such a loyal crowd back every autumn.

The festival’s own billing — “serious fun, serious racing” — captures the balance. Alongside the sport there is music, entertainment and plenty of glamour through the week, and the atmosphere carries from the racecourse into the town itself.

It is one of the busiest weeks of the year in north Kerry, so book accommodation early if you plan to stay in Listowel or nearby towns. Tickets for each day’s racing can be booked in advance through the official Listowel Races website.

The heart of the Dingle Food Festival is the Taste Trail: buy a book of taste tickets and wander the town sampling dishes from kitchens, shops and pop-up stands as you go. Around it, more than 70 market stalls showcase local producers, and the streets fill with entertainment and children’s events across the weekend.

For those who want to go deeper, there are masterclasses and workshops with well-known chefs and food experts, plus Ceiliúradh Bídh Chorca Dhuibhne, a ticketed harvest celebration of local food, drink and traditional music. Tickets for masterclasses and workshops are sold through the festival website.

The festival takes sustainability seriously and aims for zero waste — bring your own reusable bowl and cutlery if you can, or rent a stainless-steel bowl on site for €2 with a €5 deposit. Early October is a lovely, quieter time on the Dingle Peninsula, but book accommodation ahead for this weekend.

The Kerry International Film Festival marks its 27th edition in 2026, bringing four days of cinema to Killarney in mid-October. The programme mixes carefully selected feature films — narrative, documentary and animation — with a wide range of short-film strands, including Irish, international, Kerry-connected, student, animation and music-video categories.

Many screenings are followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmakers, and the festival also runs “In Conversation” events with figures from the industry, so it is a good weekend for anyone who likes to talk about films as well as watch them. The festival is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland and Kerry County Council.

Mid-October is low season in Killarney, which makes the festival an easy excuse for an autumn break — accommodation is plentiful and the national park is in its autumn colours. The full programme and tickets are published on the festival website.

For four days each November, the small Ring of Kerry village of Sneem becomes Ireland’s storytelling capital. The festival, now in its twelfth year, gathers international and local storytellers for a programme of performances, folklore lectures, live music and theatre, with events staged in venues around the village including St Michael’s Church and Murphy’s Loft.

It is an intimate festival by design — pub storytelling sessions and fireside tales are as much a part of it as the staged shows, and there are dedicated children’s storytelling sessions and cultural walks too. Mid-November is deep off-season on the Ring of Kerry, and the festival leans into that: short days, warm rooms and good stories.

Sneem’s accommodation is limited, so book a room early or plan to stay in Kenmare or Waterville nearby. Tickets and the full line-up are published on the festival website.