K-Visual

For one weekend in September, Killorglin stops being a town you drive through and becomes somewhere you wander. K-Visual puts forty of Ireland's emerging visual artists into shops, pubs, cafes and borrowed rooms all over town, so the work is found rather than visited: you come across a video piece in a back room, or a wall of paintings where a shop used to be.

It is the successor to K-Fest, which ran from 2013 to 2024 and was one of the more inventive arts festivals in the country. The team closed that chapter deliberately and started again as a volunteer-run not-for-profit, keeping the part that made it work, which is the use of ordinary buildings rather than a gallery.

The 2026 programme brings guest artists Aine Ryan, Aisling Roche, Alan Raggett and Paul Bokslag, and marks Ireland's EU Presidency with a collaboration facilitated by the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Prague. Alongside the exhibitions there are talks and a proper children's and family workshop strand, which is unusual for a contemporary art festival and makes it an easier stop with children than it sounds.

Killorglin is twenty minutes from Killarney at the top of the loop, so this is an easy detour rather than a destination in itself. It is also the quiet counterweight to Puck Fair, the other thing this town is known for: same streets, same borrowed spaces, about a tenth of the noise. Check the festival's own site for the map and schedule, which they publish close to the weekend.