Festival Details

The Clonakilty International Guitar Festival returns this September to celebrate its eleventh edition with another foot-stompin’, fingerpicking, head-banging, eye-catching conglomeration of virtuosos, rogues and three-chord heroes, all descending on the seaside town for one glorious weekend- 17th -20th September. The Clonakilty International Guitar Festival (CIGF) is extremely proud to unveil this year’s world-class line-up.

In addition to concerts, the festival presents a programme of workshops, master classes and seminars from some of the world’s best performers and experts, giving a glimpse of the methods and techniques which make them so successful. This years workshops sees master ukulele classes from the West Cork Ukulele Orchestra, Steve Cooney returns to give his now-legendary seminar at he guitar festival. John Spillane’s hugely popular songwriting workshop is back and the genial fingerstyle maestro Richard Gilewitz returns with his “Gilla-camp’ guitar clinic. The weekend will see the arrival of Music Generation Limerick’s ‘Express’ bus, a double decker commuter bus retro-fitted to be a mobile venue, recording studio and workshop space.

The Festival is run by a not for profit voluntary organisation of music lovers who strive to make the festival accessible to all with over 85% of the events across the 3 days of the festival are entirely free. The Clonakilty International Guitar Festival is a celebration of the guitar. There’s variety in both the acts and the venues that take part in the festival. Pubs, libraries, camper-vans, churches, street-corners, beaches, butcher shops – anything could happen, anywhere.