New to Listowel’s festival calendar is Féile Lios Tuathail, a weekend celebration of traditional Irish music, song, dance & storytelling.

Started in 2007 the Féile is inspired by the rich traditional arts heritage of North Kerry and the expertise gathered by the people of Listowel in hosting 14 Fleadhanna Cheoil na hEireann events since 1971.

The Festival highlights all that is good in Irish culture and will consist of three days of instrumental & singing workshops, pub sessions, concerts, traditional singing & storytelling. The rationale is to bring the best talent in national and local traditional arts to the people of Listowel and North Kerry.

It also aims to attract more visitors to Listowel, particularly in a quieter period for the Town.

In 2008, the Féile Lios Tuathail will run from October 3rd through to October 5th.

The Kerry Film Festival offers a great oppurtunity to the people of Kerry to view some of the lesser known films which may not be released in the larger cinema complexes. The films cover a multitude of gendres and there's something for everyone.

Each year the calendar of events is full around the county of Kerry and Listowel is no exception with films screened in both St. John's Threatre and the Classic Cinema.

All visitors are welcome and you'll be inspired at the festival by the very best in local, national and international film

Since its humble beginnings in 1971 ' Writer’s Week ' has grown to become one of Ireland’s leading literary festivals.

From the beginning Writer’s Week pioneered the concept of the literary workshop and now hosts a total of ten workshops each year during its festival, dealing with all styles of writing. ' Writer's Week ' essentially aims to guide, direct and enthuse the emerging writer, befriend the established writer and provide a platform for their artistic output.

One of the great tourist attractions of the county is the annual week-long Harvest Festival of Ireland, built around the Listowcl race meeting,held at the end of September.

Instituted in 1894 - although not under that title - the Harvest Festival of Ireland annually attracts a huge number of visitors to Listowcl and Ballybunion at the end of September.

The Harvest Festival was a traditional holiday for the farming community, and in many parts of North Kerry and Limerick it was a condition of hiring agricultural labourers that they be given the week free to go to Listowel and attend the Races and Harvest Festival celebrations.

One of the oldest-established race meetings in the country, Listowel races since they were inaugurated in 1858, when they were a two-day event, have long been firm favourites with racegoers.

Now an annual six-day meeting held in September in conjunction with the Harvest Festival of Ireland, Listowel races was regarded as the official close of the holiday season in Ireland.

Listowel races came to Listowel first from Ballyeigh, near Ballvbunion (nine miles from Listowel), to Gunsborough (four miles to the north-west) which was the birthplace of Earl Kitchener of Khartoum. From Gunsborough it moved to the present Island course which is located adjacent to the town and is within easy walking distance of the town centre.

Since its inception in 1995, the Listowel Food Fair has continued to develop successfully and is now an established event in the calendar of Kerry festivals.

The key object of the Food Fair is to increase to the awareness of the range and quality of Kerry and Irish food products through a variety of measures including seminars, tastings and cookery demonstrations.

Now in its 14th year, the Listowel Food Fair is the longest running food festival in Ireland.