Ellen Hutchins Festival 2026

The 2026 Ellen Hutchins Festival starts on Saturday 15th August and runs to Sunday 23rd August with events in Bantry, Glengarriff, Ballylickey, Coomhola, Ballydehob, Kealkill and on Whiddy Island and the Sheep's Head Peninsula.

Inspired by Ireland’s first female botanist, the Ellen Hutchins Festival takes place in and around Bantry Bay, West Cork every August. Ellen was born in Ballylickey in 1785 and the inaugural festival was initiated to commemorate the 200th anniversary of her death in 2015. The festival is now an annual event, taking place over nine days each year during Heritage Week.

The festival includes a wide range of events designed to encourage people of all ages to explore the natural and cultural heritage of Bantry Bay. Many are free, some have an entry fee.

During this year's festival there are botany walks and workshops, seashore and seaweed events, botanical art and craft workshops, live art and craft demonstrations, a geology walk, a biodiversity day, children's art and nature events, archives sessions, nature-inspired poetry and readings, a water day event, self-guided trails, living history and 'Ellen Hutchins: A Conversation' in Bantry Library.