Charlie Chaplin Comedy Film Festival
Late August by tradition, but we cannot confirm the festival is running in 2026 and the date above is a pattern-based estimate. Check the organisers' Facebook page before travelling for it.
Runs every year
Charlie Chaplin holidayed in Waterville repeatedly from the late 1950s onward, and there is a statue of him on the seafront looking out over Ballinskelligs Bay. The village returned the compliment with a comedy film festival every August: screenings of classic and new comedy shorts, film-making workshops, family events and a Chaplin-costume parade along the front, complete with a running attempt at the world record for the most Chaplin look-alikes in one place.
Be careful with this one before you plan around it. We could not verify that the festival is running in 2026. The organisers' own domain no longer belongs to them and now redirects to unrelated commercial content, the Waterville tourism page still carries a cancellation notice from the Covid years, and the dates that circulate online trace back to a much earlier edition. We have left the entry up because the festival has run for years and may well return, but the date shown is an estimate and nothing more.
If you are going to Waterville specifically for this, check the festival's Facebook page for a current announcement first. If you are simply passing, the statue is on the seafront year round, and Waterville is a good lunch stop on the western side of the Ring regardless.
