Festivals and Events
Ballydehob has five annual festivals and a variety of community activities in-between. You’ll be able to keep up with what’s happening here on ballydehob.ie, and you can find details about our major events below:
St Patricks Day Parade
Ballydehobs first St Patricks Day Parade in many years was a great success in 2011. Leading the parade was local lady and bar owner, Nell Levis. Nell was born in 1909 and worked and ran the family bar come shop with her late sister Julia and late brother Michael, a keen farmer. 
Nell was 102 on the 1st March this year.
The local community was extensively involved with schools, youth groups, and various local voluntary clubs all participating. Vintage cars, tractors, and the local riding school also joined the celebration, and live music and Irish set dancing was all part of the fun.
Ballydehob St Pats Day Parade on RTE
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2012 will take place on Saturday March 17th at 12 noon. Those groups wishing to take part in what should prove to be a wonderful event, please contact the chairman of Ballydehob Community Council, Martin Swanton (086 807 3182) or Noreen Dalton in the office in the Community Hall (028 37640)
Féile Átha Dá Chab – Irish Traditional Music Festival
Wide-ranging events also included an all star concert, session trails, music, song and dance workshops, a singing session, a Ceili and Sean Nós Dancing workshops.
The 6th annual Ballydehob Trad Festival will be held in the village of Ballydehob, Co. Cork from 30th March to 1st April 2012 and promises to be a feast of traditional Irish music and dance.
Famous musicians from both locally and farther afield come to the festival. There is a wide range of events including an all star concert; session trails; music, song and dance workshops; a singing session; a céilí and sean nós dancing workshops.
Ballydehobtradfestival.com
Ballydehob Jazz Festival
The Ballydehob 5th Annual Jazz Festival took place from 29th April to 2nd May 2011, and we had great pleasure in welcoming Liane Carroll as our headline concert. Fifteen acts featured across the programme with over 27 performances, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves greatly – and yes, we’re already looking forward to Ballydehob Jazz 2012! Ballydehobjazzfestival.org
The Fastnet Maritime and Folk Fest
There is a new festival added to the calendar in Ballydehob – the Fastnet Maritime and Folk Fest on 15-17 June 2012. It is an international festival featuring maritime and other folk music including Sea songs, shanties, dance and craft displays, workshops, sea song writing competition, busking, pub music gigs, Irish trad sessions and more.
The following guests are booked so far;
Jimmy Crowley
Baggyrinkle Swansea Shantymen
Trim Rig and a Doxy
Andrew Mackay and Carole Etherton
Dave and Helen Howard
Dessi Redmond
Dick Miles
Rattlesnake County
Free Spirit
Devil’s Water
Henk Voss
Compass Point
Verna Connolly
Capstan Full Strength
Andy Kenna
Hexham Morris dancers
Visit the website for further details
Ballydehob Summer Festival
Ballydehob Summer Festival will take place from Friday 12th – Sunday 21st August, with Old Boats arriving at the pier on Saturday 13th. It’s great fun for all the family, and many people also travel into the village to enjoy the activities. Live music, street parade and games, pub quizzes and much more.
Put it in your diary and we’ll update this page as more information becomes available.
Old Time Threshing & Vintage Weekend
Ballydehob Old Time Threshing & Vintage Weekend celebrates the historic traditions of rural Ireland and West Cork in particular.
The vintage weekend will take place in October this year (2011).
