SUMMER has well and truly arrived this week in West Cork, and with the good weather comes plenty of events and fantastic days out to choose from across the region.
We're biased around here, but West Cork is absolutely the number one place to be in Ireland this weekend.
There are multiple festivals to choose from, music concerts, a chance to take in some of the beautiful West Cork coastline and more!
Here are five things to do in West Cork this weekend.
Fastnet Film Festival
Schull is the place to be this weekend, as the ever-popular Fastnet Film Festival is set to play host to over 200 short films and welcome some big special guests.
American actor Aidan Quinn and James Martin, from the Oscar winning film An Irish Goodbye, were both present on Wednesday as the beautiful weather drew over 300 people to the festival's launch, and there are plenty of events and high-profile visitors scheduled across the weekend.
Lenny Abrahamson, Ed Guiney, Eanna Hardwicke, Nancy Harris, Carmel Winters and others will appear across the weekend, so now is the time to plan a trip to Schull if you haven't already!
For the full schedule, see fastnetfilmfestival.com
Taste of Baltimore festival
There's more than one festival taking place in West Cork this weekend, and Baltimore is the place to be for any seafood-lovers out there!
The 'Taste of Baltimore' festival begins today and will see plenty of events taking place across the weekend.
Guests can look forward to mussel eating, boat building, chowder tasting, seafood BBQs, seafood tasting, music, a food & crafts fair, a lifeboat demonstration and lots more.
For more information, click here.
Live music in Ballydehob
Kevin Murphy comes to Levis' in Ballydehob this weekend for what should be a great night of music.
Blind Stitch is a project which features the music of Kevin Murphy, the celebrated cellist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter from Cork.
He comes with great pedigree, having featured as a guest musician with many Irish and international artists such as The National, Bon Iver, Jenny Lewis, Lisa Hannigan, Gavin Friday and Dave Gahan of Depeche Mode.
The gig takes place tonight at 8pm, with tickets available here.
Explore our diverse coastline
Head to Duneen Strand this Saturday for a guided field trip exploring some of West Cork's diverse wildlife.
Cork Environmental Forum has organised the walk as part of biodiversity week, which will focus on a diverse seashore which contains honeycomb reef, rockpools and important blue carbon storage kelp forests.
The time of the event has been revised to 3-5pm due to tide times, and is open to all, but booking in advance is advised – click here to secure your spot.
Food and music at Woodcock Smokery
Woodcock Smokery is hosting a unique dining experience this Sunday at noon, which aims to bring you the best of West Cork food and music.
The day will include an intimate concert from Paul Tiernan and Tony Davies, a five course brunch promoting local products, with the intent being to bring people together and highlight the local community & producers.
Tickets are available here, and include: concert, five course brunch, open salad bar, unlimited tea/ coffee/ homemade cordial & complimentary bubbles.
