Welcome to the fifth Sneem International Storytelling & Folklore Festival which takes place from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th November 2016 in the charming colourful village of Sneem on the Ring of Kerry and the Wild Atlantic Way.

 

Storytelling was part of the fabric of life in the Iveragh Peninsula in South Kerry for centuries and the festival is breathing life back into this all but lost tradition in the area.

 

“There is a story in all of us and the festival is a platform for all enthusiasts, young and old, to enjoy a yarn and share a tale”, commented Batt Burns, festival founder and renowned seanchaí.

 

This year the festival has attracted leading professional storytellers who will perform at the Storytelling Concert on the Friday night of the festival. Rhode Island’s famous author and teller Mark Binder, Kilkenny’s Jim Maher, Cork’s Pat Speight as well as Kerry’s Batt Burns will all perform along with a guest performance by singing legend, Seán Ó Sé.

 

The festival centrepiece will be ‘The Matchmaker’ starring the much loved television and stage actor Mary McEvoy and actor and comedian Jon Kenny, formerly one part of D’Unbelievables, which will play the Saturday night of the festival in the Sneem Hotel. Together they play a myriad of characters in this hilarious and earthy dramatic comedy directed by Michael Scott and based on the novella ‘Letters of a Country Matchmaker’ by John B. Keane, which follows the efforts of Dicky Mick Dicky O’Connor as he makes matches for the lonely and lovelorn.

 

Patrons can look forward to storytelling walks in the countryside, adult and children’s storytelling workshops and talks including a conversation with best-selling Irish author and poet Alice Taylor and a lecture on the life of Lady Albina Broderick by Kerry author Pádraig Ó Concubhair.

 

There is also a storytelling pub trail, a Young Tellers concert (11-18 year olds), lunchtime theatre (‘Faith Healer’ by Brian Friel, performed by Sneem DramSoc) and the hugely popular ‘Story Swap Sessions’ which are hosted by our featured tellers over the weekend and where members of the public can come along to share and swap stories with each other.

 

The South Kerry Rosen Choir are also performing this year. They are commemorating the Easter Rising and The Battle of the Somme in Song and Verse.

 

A weekend festival ticket is €50 including the storytelling concert and ‘The Matchmaker’.