Since its foundation in 1974, Kilkenny Arts Festival has gathered many of the world’s finest musicians, performers, writers and artists in Ireland’s medieval city. For ten days each August, the city’s historic churches, castle, courtyards, townhouses and gardens offer a magical setting for unique collaborations and intimate encounters between audiences and artists.
From outdoor theatre to contemporary dance, the Festival is dedicated to staging events of the highest calibre, thrilling audiences of all kinds. Classical music has been at the core of the Festival from the very beginning.
In recent years the Festival has enriched its programme with major new initiatives like The Marble City Sessions, a cross-genre series of unique musical collaborations, hosted and co-curated by the great Irish fiddle-player and artist-in-residence Martin Hayes.
In recent years the position of poet-in-residence has been graced by everyone from Paula Meehan and the late Eavan Boland to former US laureates Billy Collins and Robert Pinsky.
Each year the Hubert Butler Lecture series, delivered by illustrious critics and thinkers including Lara Marlowe, John Gray, Masha Gessen and Samantha Power, brings the pressing issues of our time into focus before rapt audiences in the spectacular St Canice’s Cathedral, one of Ireland’s most magnificent churches, which also plays host to a series of unforgettable concerts each year. Indeed, Kilkenny boasts many of Ireland’s loveliest historic spaces, including Rothe House, the Black Abbey and the Castle Yard, which has hosted dazzling theatrical productions by the likes of Rough Magic, Shakespeare’s Globe and Druid Theatre.
Few festivals can boast such a wealth of venues, and the Festival is constantly devising unique events tailored to the city’s extraordinary spaces.
