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festivals · Thursday 5 November 2026 · Various 
Samhain Festival of Food and Culture 2026 - Kells
At Headfort Arms Hotel and venues across Kells · Headfort Place, Kells, Co. Meath A82 D2C1
At Headfort Arms Hotel and venues across Kells · Headfort Place, Kells, Co. Meath A82 D2C1
Kells hosts the Samhain Festival of Food and Culture over four days, 5 to 8 November 2026, built around the idea that Samhain, the ancient root of Halloween, began in the Boyne Valley. It is one strand of the wider Spirits of Meath Halloween programme, and the food-focused end of it, pulling in some of Ireland’s best-known chefs and producers for a weekend centred on Irish food history and culture.
The headline event is Sheridans Irish Food Fair, bringing artisan food and drink producers into Kells for tastings and stalls. Around it runs a programme of cookery demonstrations, farm visits, food safaris, kids’ workshops and talks with figures from Ireland’s food world. The Headfort Arms Hotel is a central venue, hosting a communal Long Table Samhain Supper cooked by Michelin-starred chef Enda McEvoy. Expect a mix of serious food culture content and more festive, family-friendly elements given the Samhain timing, with storytelling and live music woven through the weekend. The festival sits inside the broader Spirits of Meath Halloween programme, which has run for more than a decade on the premise that Samhain itself has roots in this stretch of the Boyne Valley, so the food events are pitched alongside the county’s wider Halloween storytelling rather than as a stand-alone food fair.
Kells sits on the N3, about 65km northwest of Dublin, with Bus Éireann services running direct from Dublin city centre. The Headfort Arms Hotel is on the main street in the town centre, within walking distance of Kells’ other festival venues, and also within walking distance of the town’s medieval high crosses and round tower, worth a look while the festival is on.
Heading to Headfort Arms Hotel and venues across Kells in Kells? Meath has plenty more to see. Read the Kells area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.
In town for Headfort Arms Hotel and venues across Kells? These Meath tours book out in summer.