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family · Thursday 6 August 2026 · 10:00am 
Kilkenny Arts Festival Family Programme
At Multiple venues throughout Kilkenny City · Kilkenny City, Co. Kilkenny
At Multiple venues throughout Kilkenny City · Kilkenny City, Co. Kilkenny
The Kilkenny Arts Festival has been one of the anchors of the Irish summer since 1974, and the family programme is the reason many parents first make the trip. Running across all eleven days of the festival (6 to 16 August 2026), it turns Kilkenny’s medieval streets, castle gardens, churches, and courtyards into a working arts playground for children and the adults dragged happily along. If you have kids who respond to making, watching, and joining in, this is a solid week-plus to plan around.
The 2026 family strand includes three theatre productions under the StormFest banner, staged at The Old Bank on The Parade - an intimate venue that suits younger audiences far better than a big auditorium. Productions include “The Dig” (10 to 12 August) and two shows running 14 to 16 August: “The Fisher and His Wife” and “Penny and the Far Thing.” Ticket bundles are available across the three productions, which makes it straightforward to book a run of afternoons.
Alongside the theatre, the Secret Garden Series runs from 8 to 16 August across various city venues, mixing music, spoken word, and theatre in the kind of informal, surprising settings the festival does particularly well. A visual arts installation, “Light Up the Castle: Rift” by Fictions Picture Company, lights up Kilkenny Castle on the evenings of 12 to 15 August - the kind of thing children remember for years.
Hands-on workshops and community art projects typically run across the city throughout the festival. Family events tend to book out early, so check the full programme at kilkennyarts.ie and pick your days as soon as the listings go live.
Kilkenny is roughly 120km south of Dublin, about 90 minutes by car on the M9 motorway. Bus Eireann runs regular services from Dublin Busaras, and Irish Rail connects the city from Dublin Heuston with several direct trains daily - the journey takes just under two hours. Within the city, the festival venues are close together and easily walkable from the train station. Parking is available at the Kilkenny Shopping Centre multi-storey and at several surface car parks off the ring road.
The festival sits inside a city that is genuinely worth a day on its own - Kilkenny Castle, the Medieval Mile Museum, and the Butler Gallery are all within a short walk of the main festival venues. There is more to see in Kilkenny and across Co. Kilkenny.
Heading to Multiple venues throughout Kilkenny City in Kilkenny? Kilkenny has plenty more to see. Read the Kilkenny area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.