What's On in Ireland

August 16, 2010 to August 22, 2010.
This is Ireland’s biggest annual celebration of Irish traditional music, singing and dance and draws massive crowds each year. In 2009 it returns to Tullamore for a second year.

While the main events of the Fleadh are competitive – with competitions for instrumentalists, singers, dancers and groups – there is always lots of music on the streets and sessions in just about every pub.

August 28, 2010;
The origins of the run at its heart of this festival go back to a pub bet in 1979, when a group of drinkers began to speculate on the fastest way to the top of the nearby mountain.

Now hundreds of people complete the gruelling course annually, while the less active enjoy a range of events around the beach at Strandhill.

September 8, 2010 to September 12, 2010.
The Mountains to Sea Festival honours the surprisingly large number of highly regarded and successful authors who hail from or live in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown area of Dublin.

Now in it’s second year, the varied programme of readings, tours, performances and lectures has something of interest for anyone who loves good books, good writing and good company.

September 10, 2010 to September 12, 2010.
A three-day Surf & Music Festival held annually on the beach in Kilkee, Co Clare, combines surfing activities with a strong line up of live music acts who perform on the beach.

September 11, 2010 to September 26, 2010.
The term ‘fringe’ may suggest this is a relatively small event. It isn’t, running in the weeks prior to the Dublin Theatre Festival it has become one of the largest cultural events in Ireland.

The progamme encompasses theatre, dance, music, visual art streams and street and outdoor events and spectacles.

September 11, 2010 to September 13, 2010.
Tulla is a place steeped in traditional music and this annual event draws some of the best, and best known, musicians in the country to the small town.

While the programme is of a very high quality, just as enjoyable are the many informal sessions that take place in the pubs and on the streets.

September 21, 2010 to September 23, 2010.
This is the biggest annual event in rural Ireland, with huge crowds gathering not just for the ploughing but also the massive trade show, and just the social occasion.

It really is a huge event, with a virtual new town being constructed annually, complete with hard roads. Anyone with a connection to rural life and agriculture is there – if you have such a connection you’ll love it.

September 23, 2010 to September 26, 2010.
The New Ross Piano Festival continues to attract some of the most interesting and talented pianists on the International circuit for a feast of music that draws ever larger crowds.

This year a couple of young emerging pianists join more established favourites on what looks like another excellent programme.

September 23, 2010 to September 26, 2010.
This is an event for serious party people, with gala events every evening, but during the day it’s all about the oyster.

At the center of proceedings is a hotly contested International Oyster Opening Championship, with music, food fairs and much Guinness involved also.

September 30, 2010 to October 15, 2010.
Dublin Theatre Festival is one of Europe’s premier theatre events and enjoys a wonderful reputation worldwide.

The invariably huge attendances at the festival events are drawn not only from the city’s citizens but the many international visitors who attend annually.