The list of annual festivals and special events on Islay is growing so I think it's a good time for a round-up now that the tourist season is about to start. Before I give you an overview of most events I'd like to point out that the Islay Events Calendar is now up to date. New events will be added when the dates and information becomes available. This time I will provide an overview by month, so here we go:

April
Monday 2nd, the first Welcome to Islay Evening organised by the Islay Natural History Trust to be held at Bruichladdich Distillery. All welcome evenings are from 6.30 to 8.00pm.
Saturday 14th to Friday 20th is for the walkers when the annual Islay Walk week will be held. For more information and a programme visit this link

May
Monday 7th of May sees the second Welcome to Islay Evening by the INHT, location Bruichladdich Distillery.
May is the time for the most well known festival of the year, the Islay festival of malt and music. This years the festival is from the 25th of May to the 3rd of June. Up to date information is available from www.theislayfestival.co.uk

June
Monday the 4th is another Welcome to Islay Evening at Bruichladdich Distillery, again held by the INHT.
Saturday the 9th of June will see many rugby players and fans heading to Port Ellen from far and wide for the annual Islay Rugby festival. For the latest info visit www.islaybeachrugby.com

July
A busy start of the month. The Cantilena festival wil be held from the 1st to the 6th of July: www.cantilenafestival.co.uk
The 2nd of July is the 4th Welcome to Islay evening at Bruichladdich Distillery.
This years Islay Festival of the Sea at Port Ellen will be held from the 6th to the 8th of July. No website here yet but any information will be published here on the blog. Continue reading....

August
Same as in July the focus is on the beginning of the month with the Ardbeg Islay Half Marathon on the 4th of August. Check out www.islayhalfmarathon.co.uk for more information and entry forms.
The most sportive weekend of the year will see the Ride of the Falling Rain on the 5th of August, a hundred mile cycling tour over the island. Check out www.rideofthefallingrain.net for more information.
The 6th sees the 5th Welcome to Islay evening, again at Bruichladdich distillery.
The annual Islay Agricultural Show will be held on Thursday the 9th of August at Bridgend.

September
Another busy month. The last of the Welcome Islay Evenings will be held on Monday the 3rd.
The Islay Book Festival is in the weekend from 8 and 9 August. Check out www.islaybookfestival.com for information, writers, programme etc.
The list doesn't stop here because it's time for the Jazz lovers. This years Islay Jazz Festival will be held on 14, 15 and 16 September.

It's quite an impressive list. There is an overview of most annual events on the Islay Info website and detailed information on all of the events will be published here as well.

Besides the events and festivals there is a lot more "To Do" on Islay. It won't be long before the weekly "What's on on Islay" PDF's will be available in the download section, I will spend a separate blog post on that when the time is there. In case I've missed anything please use the feedback form to contact me. Thanks and good fun at all the festivals and events.

Tag: festival event feis jazz cantilena marathon rugby music