Killarney Festival of Music and Food cancelled

The Killarney Festival of Music and Food, which was initially expected to host 36,000 people this weekend, has been cancelled.

The festival was originally due to take place at the Killarney House Demesne on Saturday and Sunday, before it was announced on Tuesday it was relocating to the town’s racecourse.

In a statement on Wednesday however, organisers said the festival, which was to include performances from musical acts Duran Duran and Damien Dempsey, was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances beyond their control”.

“The organisers of the Killarney Festival of Music and Food regretfully announce that the festival will not go ahead this weekend at Killarney Racecourse due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control,” it said.

A spokeswoman for the festival said organisers were “devastated” that the festival had been cancelled, and added they did “everything in our power to make it happen this weekend”.

“We would like to extend our sincere apologies to all the festival-goers who were planning to attend the event in Killarney and we would like to thank all the local businesses and statutory agencies for their help and support.”

The statement said promoters are currently in discussions with some of the acts about performing in an alternative indoor venue in Killarney over the weekend. An announcement will be made in due course.

Chefs expected to attend the festival, for which tickets were priced from €76, included l’Ecrivain’s Derry Clarke and Chapter One’s Ross Lewis. For refunds, people have been urged to contact Ticketmaster.