Major Events:

North West 200, Portrush & Causeway Coast
11 – 17 May 2008.

Internationally significant motorcycle rally event held in the Coleraine / Portrush area. Attracting international motorcycle riders and enthusiasts, this year it is expected to attract over 150,000 spectators.

www.northwest200.org

Galway Arts Festival
14 – 27 July 2008

www.galwayartsfestival.com

Tour of Ireland (Cycling)
22 – 26 August 2008

From Kilkenny to Dublin, via Cork, Killarney, Tralee, Ennis and Galway.

www.tourofireland.ie

Autumn Cultural Weekend Breaks

Dublin Theatre Festival,
October 2008

www.dublintheatrefestival.com

Wexford Opera Festival
16 October – 2 November 2008

www.wexfordopera.com

Belfast Festival at Queens
17 October - 1November

www.belfastfestival.com

Hallowe’en Carnival Derry
31 October

www.derrycity.gov.uk/halloween

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09
Beginning in Alicante, Spain on 4 October 2008, with various port stopovers around the globe including Galway, Ireland in June 2009, where a big spectacle and street carnival is planned.

www.volvooceanrace.com

Rally Ireland 29 Jan – 1 Feb 2009
29 Jan – 1 Feb 2009

Ireland will open the World Rally Championship in 2009 with the Irish edition taking place in Ireland’s North and Northwest.

www.rallyireland.org

More Events:

All Year

100th Anniversary of the opening of the world’s first modern art gallery, the Hugh Lane in Dublin Special Hugh Lane Exhibition
26 June – 14 Sept,
www.hughlane.ie/centenary/about.shtml

400th anniversary of Bushmills’ distillery,
all year,
www.bushmills.com

April

Connemarathon,
6 April,
www.connemarathon.com

May

City of Derry Jazz and Big Band Festival,
1 – 4 May,
www.cityofderryjazzfestival.com

Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, Belfast,
9 – 11 May,
www.cqaf.com

Blues on the Bay, Warrenpoint,
22 – 26 May,
www.bluesonthebay.com


June

Castleward Opera, Strangford Lough, Lisburn,
30 May – 21 June,
www.castlewardopera.com

Garden Show Ireland, Hillsborogh,
6 – 8 June,
www.gardenshowireland.com

Eigse Carlow, Arts Festival,
7 – 15 June,
www.eigsecarlow.ie

An Turas Mór, 4-day World Series Adventure Race,
15 – 21 June,
www.anturasmor.com

Taste of Dublin,
12 – 15 June
Taste of Cork,
27 – 29 June,
www.tastefestivals.ie

Cork Midsummer Festival, Arts Festival,
15 June – 5 July,
www.corkfestival.com

Mournes Walking Festival,
27 – 29 June,
www.mournewalking.co.uk

Belfast Maritime Festival,
27 – 29 June,
www.belfastcity.gov.uk/maritimefestival/index.asp

West Cork Music Festival,
Chamber Music Festival in Bantry House,
28 Jun3 – 06 July,
www.westcorkmusic.ie

More Events:

July

Castlebar 4-day International Walks,
3 – 6 July,
www.castlebar4dayswalks.com

Willy Clancy Summer School,
5 – 13 July,
www.setdancingnews.net/wcss

Clonmel Junction, Arts Festival,
5 – 13 July,
www.junctionfestival.com

Killarney Summerfest,
10 – 20 July,
www.killarneysummerfest.com

Ballina Salmon Festival,
11 - 20 July,
www.ballinasalmonfestival.ie

Cork Week Sailing Regatta,
12 – 18 July,
www.accbankcorkweek.ie

Boyle Arts Festival,
25 July – 1 August,
www.boylearts.com

Galway Races, Horse Racing,
28 July - 3 August,
www.galwayraces.com

August

Waterford Spraoi, Street Festival,
1 – 3 August,
www.spraoi.com

Kilkenny Arts,
8 – 17 August,
www.kilkennyarts.ie

Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, Traditional Irish Music Festival, Tullamore, Co Offaly,
17 – 24 August 2008,
www.fleadh2008.com

Festival of World Cultures,
22 – 24 August,
www.festivalofworldcultures.com

September

Hillsborough Oyster Festival,
4 – 7 September,
www.hillsboroughoysterfestival.com

Apalachian & Bluegrass Festival, Ulster American Folk Park, Omagh,
5 – 7 September,
www.folkpark.com

Midleton Food & Drink Festival,
September,
www.midletonfoodfestival.com

Galway International Oyster Festival,
25 – 28 September,
www.galwayoysterfest.com

October

Kinsale International Gourmet Festival,
10 – 12 October,
www.kinsalerestaurants.com/autumn.php

Cork Jazz Festival,
24 – 27 October.
www.corkjazzfestival.com

Festival of Masks, Trim, Co Meath,
24 – 29 October,
www.festivalofmasks.ie

November

Sionna, Music & Dance Festival, Limerick,
10 – 20 November,
www.sionna.com

William Kennedy Piping Festival, Armagh,
12 – 16 November Armagh,
www.armaghpipers.com/wkpf/