Restaurants, pubs and shops in the heritage town have been asked to switch to candlelight on the evenings of October 18th and 19th. The lights will dim from early evening.
There are 32 restaurants within one mile of the town centre. Hotels are also co-operating, according to Mr Terry O'Doherty, treasurer of the Kenmare Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber was finalising details of Kenmare's candlelit weekend last night. So far, though, they have ruled out turning off the street lighting altogether, for safety reasons. Otherwise, most businesses have agreed to the mellow tones of candlelight.
"It is hoped visitors will want to experience a more gentle ambience. The idea is to get a feeling of what Kenmare was like for so many years until electricity came. It will also of course, put us in the right frame of mind for Hallowe'en," Mr O'Doherty said.
"We are not too far from the Black Valley here, one of the last places in Kerry and in Ireland to get electricity," he said.
The weekend will attract visitors in what is the shoulder season, he said. Some years ago, the town ran a highly successful murder mystery weekend based in the Park Hotel.
Conscious of safety, the chamber is issuing guidelines for candle use and the supermarkets and shops are asked to stock lots of cream and white candles.
Kenmare takes its heritage as well as its tourism seriously. A winner of the Tidy Towns award in 2000, it has retained its gold medal since.
A draft local area plan, before the public for some weeks, has had some 40 submissions, the highest number so far for draft area plans drawn up by Kerry County Council.
While the town in a wooded setting at the head of the Kenmare River is almost exactly as it was when planned 200 years ago, and is still a market town for the area, there are worries it is becoming over-developed.
Land and house prices are the highest in Kerry, as pressure for accommodation for holiday and retirement as well as for family homes in Kenmare continues to grow.
Almost 60 structures within the town boundary are protected. These include bridges, hotels, shopfronts, cottages, churches and convents.
Traffic congestion has become a problem in the town during the summer in recent years.