Kilkenny's Fairtytale Festival set for return to Paulstown

The Fairytale Festival will be returning to Shankill Castle in Paulstown, Kilkenny on Sunday, July 23, following a successful inaugural event last year.

Regional radio station Beat 102-103 has teamed up with Kilkenny County Council for the festival, which includes a fairy trail, treasure hunt, storytelling from Glinda the Good Witch, sing-a-long with Cinderella, bouncy castles, an outdoor games area with an arts and crafts section and more.

Children will also have the opportunity to be ‘knighted’ or bestowed a ‘Princess’ title, while they will also get to meet some of their favourite Fairytale friends like Elsa, Anna, Rapunzel, and Snow White. A variety of south-east based food stalls wil be on site, including exhibitors from ‘A Taste of Kilkenny’.

A new addition to this year’s festival is the involvement of multi award winning local animation studio, Cartoon Saloon.

“Children of the south-east will be able to get up close and personal with these globally recognised animators as they will present their creative animation workshop ‘Shapeshifters’ at the festival, and I think we’re as excited as the children about experiencing this creative team at work,” says Fairytale Festival event planner, Siobhan Flynn.

Kilkenny County Council is on board this year as this event’s exclusive sponsor.

“It’s an ideal fit as the Fairytale Festival showcases one of the county’s hidden gems; Shankill Castle,” said Chief Executive of Beat Gabrielle Cummins.

While the house itself is not part of the Fairytale Festival, it will be open on the day for guided tours by the owners, the Cope Family.

Tickets for the festvial are €15 per person or €50 for a family of four and can be purchased online through www.beat102103.com.

Theevent will run from noon to 5pm.