Festivals & Events in LISDOONVARNA
Slow Food Festival, Lisdoonvarna: May 20th to 22nd 2011
Burren Slow Food Festival 2011
Friday May 20th - Sunday 22nd May
Venue: Lisdoonvarna, County Clare
Mark your calendars! The dates for the Burren Slow Food Festival 2010 are set for Friday 2oth May thru Sunday 22nd May.
Please check http://www.slowfoodireland.com/index.php/local/munster/clare.html for details or contact slowfoodclare@gmail.com with any queries you might have regarding this year’s festival.
Matchmaking Festival, Lisdoonvarna: Sept 2011
Throughout the month of September, the spa town of Lisdoonvarna, close to the Burren in Co. Clare, celebrates the world famous Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival with music and lots of fun.
The small spa town of Lisdoonvarna, with a population of around 800 people, has attracted visitors from all over Ireland to its mineral springs, since the 18th century. A long held traditional in this central town on the southern edges of the scenic Burren area, is the matchmaking festival. After the harvests in September, young farmers from all over Ireland would shuffle into Lisdoonvarna to find themselves a potential wife, with the help of the ‘basadoiri' or matchmakers.
This tradition is upheld today by fourth generation matchmaker (and horse dealer) Willie Daly and today the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is one of the largest matchmaking events in Europe attracting some 40,000 hopefuls and festival-goers, over the month. Held at weekends throughout September in venues throughout Lisdoonvarna, the festival events include traditional Irish dance and music, speed dating, horse racing and culminates with the Mr. Lisdoonvarna and Queen of the Burren competitions to find the most eligible lady & gentleman of that year.
The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is great friendly fun, and as they say ‘the craic is mighty in Lisdoonvarna'.
Merriman Summer School - Lisdoonvarna: Wed 17th to Sun 21st Aug 2011
Every year since 1968 Cumann Merriman has run a Summer and a Winter School to commemorate Brian Merriman (one of Ireland's most celebrated 18th Century poets) and his work and in addition, to promote interest in every aspect of Irish culture, such as the Irish language, Irish history, literature and music.
The Summer School is a bilingual one. Everyone is welcome and although English is the main language, a number of seminars and lectures are given in Irish. It runs for a full week, with stimulation of mind and soul at its heart, be it in the form of debate, lecture, walking, singing, a workshop, dance or a tóisín of revivifying tincture! An article is available on this website about the Cumann Merriman Summer School.
If you would like to look up main points of previous Cumann Merriman Summer Schools such as themes and locations, you can go to the Summer School history overview page.
For more information & an complete overview, please visit the website at the following link: http://www.merriman.ie/
Tour de Burren - Sat 18th Jun2011
The An Post Tour de Burren returns on June 18th 2011. 
This is the third year of the An Post Tour de Burren, the event continues to grow each year with 1,700 participants taking to their bikes last year.
It was fantastic to see so many people of all ages and cycling abilities out on their bikes and enjoying all that North Clare has to offer. The Tour has gained the reputation over the past number of years as being one of the premier sportif cycling events in Ireland.
