The Islay Festival kicks off in May. Here’s everything you need to know.
Fèis Ìle is set to run from 24 May to 1 June 2024.
This isn’t by any means a whisky-only festival - it’s a celebration of the island with music, dance, storytelling and a few whiskies.
For those who are visiting to see the distilleries, the festival is arranged so that each of the main distilleries have their own day of events, which usually include tours and tastings as well as live music.
Over the course of the ten days, each distillery has a day where they host tours and tastings, with a range of live music taking place across Islay.
Highlights usually always include Ardbeg Day and Bunnahabhain Day, which traditionally take place on the first Sunday and last Saturday.
Distillery days are are follows:
While all events are popular, fans go wild for Bruichladdich day and Ardbeg day making this a whisky fuelled week for those who have sorted out travel and accommodation.
For anyone not into whisky, there’s events for beer, gin and rum as well as cultural events that are well worth attending. Highlights from years gone by include the Mist'ry Bus Tour, ceilidhs and the everything but whisky festival at The Machrie.
Tickets are available for Fèis Ìle events, which are on sale now.
Keep an eye on Fèis Ìle social media accounts, as well as those of your favourite Islay distilleries for updates.
Established almost 30 years ago, the festival of music and malt draws visitors from across the globe to the shores of the island each year to experience its community, culture, and its world-renowned whisky.
Fèis Ìle, which was initially staged to revive the island’s traditional Gaelic culture, has grown to become the major showcase for Islay’s food and drink operators.
Organised by a committee of volunteers and the island’s distilleries, the Fèis has recorded attendances of 9000 in recent years, three times its population.
These are always extremely popular, with more information available from the distilleries but so far we know that Ardbeg have announced their limited edition whisky, Ardbeg Spectacular, which is priced at £110 and will be available from 23 April. It paves the way for the Ardbeg theme, which is ‘dark circus’.
Find out more about Fèis Ìle here.
