An Tóstal Festival

An Tóstal meaning "The Pageant" was the name for a series of festivals held in Ireland in the 20th Century. The An Tóstal festival was inaugurated in 1953 as a celebration of Irish life but today Drumshanbo in County Leitrim is the only town in Ireland that this fantastic festival continues and of this, we are very proud.

The original purpose of the festival was a celebration of Irish culture, with an emphasis upon drawing tourists to Irish shores. It was marked by a series of regional parades, arts and sporting events. Many towns began a clean-up plan, thus starting off the National Tidy Town Awards, which is running still in Ireland. The cleaning up of towns inspired the creation of the National Tidy Towns Competition. The Festival of Kerry and The Rose of Tralee in 1959 grew out of An Tósstal as well.

This year our festival takes place from Sunday 2nd July to Saturday 8th July 2023. Our festival is a week long family fun festival that is full of a variety of activities and entertainment. There is a mix of on-street entertainment, indoor and outdoor activities, which attracts hundreds of people to Drumshanbo during the festival week.

The festival provides a range of entertainment for all ages which includes the Family Fun Day, An Opening Festival Parade, The Shed Distillery Gunpowder Gin Experience and much more.

An Tóstal is a non-profit voluntary organisation which is made up of approximately 20 volunteers. Each of the volunteers provide a vast amount of time and effort into ensuring the success of the festival each year.

The festival is funded primarily through Sponsorship and local fundraising events throughout the year which are organised by the An Tóstal Committee. Fundraising events include the "Horse Race Night", "TedFest" and the ever popular and scary "An Tóstal Halloween Haunted House". We are very grateful to all the local and national businesses who sponsor our events very generously throughout the year to ensure that we can organise the week long festival for everyone. Their support means a lot.

We would also like to acknowledge and thank all the support, guidance and assistance from Leitrim County Council, Fáilte Ireland, Leitrim Tourism, An Garda Síochána, and the many organisations who facilitate us in any way throughout the year.

The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supports our festival and fundraising events. Without you, it would not be possible.