In ancient Ireland, Lughnasa was a favored time for handfastings, trial marriages that would generally last a year and a day, with the option of ending the contract before the new year, or later formalizing it as a more permanent marriage.
Today Lunasa is celebrated in the medieval city of Kilkenny (when the locals almost forget about hurling) to showcase the best in Irish and international visual art, classical music, theatre and dance, jazz, world & traditional Irish music, literature, film, indie music, craft, children’s and street events for two weeks in August.
| Mount Juliet |
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Of course, some handfasting trial marriages may take place over the two weeks for all we know.
For more details on festival dates etc, check here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sF1kKod3KNo
