Meeting point is Outside Kilkenny Castle; the guide gathers the group at the Courthouse on Parliament Street before the walk.

How long is the tour?

Approximately four hours, including all tastings and the lunchtime concert at St John’s Priory.

What’s included in the price?

€70 per person includes all food and drink tastings, the guided walking experience, and entry to the lunchtime concert.

Can children participate?

Yes—children are welcome and offered kid-friendly tasting options; please note ages and needs when booking.

Tours run in most weather; they will only be cancelled in the event of red weather warnings. Bring a compact rain layer.

Can dietary requirements be accommodated?

Yes—hosts can cater for dietary needs if notified in advance during booking.

Kilkenny Arts Festival Culture & Cuisine: A Guided Food, Makers & Lunchtime Concert Experience

Kilkenny Arts Festival: Culture & Cuisine is a four-hour guided walking experience in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland, that pairs tastings from local producers with storytelling and a lunchtime concert. Beginning Outside Kilkenny Castle, the tour winds through the city’s medieval streets and finishes inside the atmospheric St John’s Priory, offering a compact but generous introduction to the region’s food, history and contemporary culture. Your guide meets the group, limited to eight guests, at the Courthouse on Parliament Street and leads a pace designed for savoring rather than racing. Stops include family-run bakeries, artisan chocolate makers, local cheesemakers and innovative microbreweries; tastings are wide-ranging and intended to replace a full meal. Along the way the guide pulls back layers of local knowledge—how traditional recipes have been updated, which producers source ingredients from nearby farms, and how food ties into Kilkenny’s festival calendar. The crown jewel of the itinerary is the intimate lunchtime concert at St John’s Priory. This performance, curated as part of the Kilkenny Arts Festival programme, transforms the priory’s stone interior into a listening room where music and place reinforce one another. The result is a sensory sequence: the tang of cheese, the sweetness of chocolate, the warmth of a freshly baked pastry, followed by music that reframes the city as a live cultural venue. Practical details are straightforward: the experience runs only during the Kilkenny Arts Festival, costs €70 per person and lasts approximately four hours. The price includes all food and drink tastings, the guided experience and entry to the lunchtime concert. Tours operate in normal weather and in light rain; they will be cancelled only in the event of red weather warnings. Book early—group sizes are intentionally small—and indicate dietary requirements at booking so hosts can prepare alternatives. Children are welcome and offered kid-friendly tasting options so families can participate comfortably. Why choose this tour? It compresses Kilkenny’s culinary scene into a single, well-curated afternoon that connects the products on your plate to real people and real places. For visitors staying in Kilkenny or passing through for the arts programme, the combination of maker encounters, historic streets, and a live concert makes this a particularly memorable way to spend an afternoon. Bring comfortable shoes for uneven cobbles, curiosity for local stories, and a readiness to meet the makers whose craft keeps Kilkenny’s food culture lively and forward-looking. Reserve a place as soon as festival dates are announced; the small group size and direct access to producers mean spaces fill quickly, and the combination of tastings plus the priory concert delivers an efficient, sensory-rich afternoon that uniquely showcases Kilkenny’s evolving culinary scene while supporting local small businesses and artists. Book early and bring an appetite and camera.

Kilkenny Arts Festival Culture & Cuisine: A Guided Food, Makers & Lunchtime Concert Experience

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