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 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

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/