Arts festival set to return to West Cork's Garinish Island

The Island Drift Festival will return to Garinish Island near Glengarriff in West Cork in September, featuring a line-up of live music, literature, and cultural celebrations.

Now in its fourth year, the festival will take place over the first weekend of September.

This year’s programme offers visitors a range of activities, including free cultural walking tours with renowned writers, poets, musicians, and cultural creatives including author Doireann Ni Ghríofa, musician David Murphy, ornithologist Seán Ronayne, and more.

Highlights include three ticketed evening concerts, starting on Friday in front of the Grecian Temple with the Pilgrims, a collaboration between Paul Noonan of Bell X1 and collaborator Brian Crosby, who released their debut album Wintering earlier this year.

Saturday’s events will kick off at 11am, with head gardener Glyn Sherratt guiding visitors on a walking tour of the island’s horticultural highlights. This will be followed by a reading from Carina McNally at 12.30pm, who will read from her debut novel Mithim published by Mercier Press. 

A music trail will then take place from 1pm, featuring performances from David Murphy, Dan Walsh, and Bridget and Kitty. 

The second evening concert will be performed by songwriter Gemma Hayes, kicking off from 5.30pm on the Casita Lawn.

On Sunday, Glyn Sherratt will return for another tour at 11am, followed by a conversation and readings from Doireann Ní Ghríofa and Rachel Andrews at 12.30pm. 

At 2pm, ornithologist and sound recordist Seán Ronayne will deliver a new talk, Untold Sounds, delving into never-before-told-stories of Irish wildlife.

The festival then concludes with the final evening concert from the Blindboy Podcast at 5.30pm.

Afternoon events are free to attend on the island. 

However, visitors must purchase ferry tickets from Harbour Queen Ferries at the pier in Glengarriff or the Blue Pool Ferry in the village. 

Normal entry fees to the island apply for the daytime shows, with tickets for the evening concerts available via Eventbrite.ie.