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arts · Monday 3 August 2026 · Various 
Kenmare Arts Festival 2026
At Multiple venues in Kenmare · Kenmare, Co. Kerry
At Multiple venues in Kenmare · Kenmare, Co. Kerry
Kenmare Arts Festival is one of the more distinctive summer gatherings in the south-west - not a music headliner event or a food market dressed up with bunting, but a genuine cross-arts festival that takes literature, visual art and live performance seriously. Running for 15 days across August, it draws writers, painters, musicians and curious visitors who want something more than a weekend diversion. If you have an interest in any one of those strands, there is enough programme here to build a proper trip around.
The festival is organised around four competitions whose results feed directly into the public programme. The Kate O’Riordan Prize for Short Fiction and the Poets Meet Painters competition both culminate in anthology launches at the Carnegie Arts Centre - the short fiction anthology “First Light” launches on 16 August, while the Poets Meet Painters anthology reading takes place on 8 August, both free to attend. The poetry competition pairs poets with painters, and the resulting anthology (€10) brings both art forms into a single publication.
Beyond the literary strand, the 2026 programme includes classical music evenings - a violin concert by Siún Milne (€10), the Meliora Quartet (€20), and an experimental opera performance by Daniel Kramer billed as Exploding Theatre (€20 on 15 August). Film runs alongside everything else, with Almodóvar screenings and an animated feature at €8 each. Visual arts workshops are led by named instructors including Luke Eastwood and Sandra Van Beurden, with Eileen Sheehan running an afternoon workshop at Mill Cove Gallery on 21 Main Street - the gallery that organises the whole festival. The Windows Exhibition 2026 opens on 3 August and runs for the full fortnight.
Kenmare sits at the head of the Kenmare River estuary, roughly 35 km south of Killarney on the N71. Driving from Cork, take the N22 to Killarney and continue south on the N71 - allow about 1 hour 45 minutes. From Limerick, the N21 to Tralee then south via Killarney is the straightforward route. Bus Éireann serves Kenmare from Killarney (route 270), with connections to the national network at Killarney. Parking in town is mostly on-street; the main square and the streets off it are the obvious starting points, and the town is compact enough to walk between venues once you arrive.
Kenmare is a well-kept market town on the Ring of Kerry with a good spread of restaurants, craft shops and traditional pubs along its triangular street plan. August is the peak of the Kerry season, so the town has full energy during the festival fortnight. There is more to see in Kenmare and across Co. Kerry.
Heading to Multiple venues in Kenmare in Kenmare? Kerry has plenty more to see. Read the Kenmare area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.