The Ballina Salmon Festival, a week on the Moy in the salmon capital
Every July, Ballina celebrates the river that made it with about a week of parades, races and music, a festival running since 1964. These are the closest B&Bs in the directory, each bookable direct with the owner.
Sixty years of celebrating one river
The Ballina Salmon Festival has run since 1964, when the town’s chamber of commerce founded it as the Moy Salmon Festival, and it stands today as one of Ireland’s longest-running community festivals and the oldest along the Wild Atlantic Way. It fills about a week each July in the town Fáilte Ireland formally named the Salmon Capital of Ireland.
Everything centres on the River Moy, one of Europe’s most prolific salmon rivers, which runs straight through the middle of the town. Festival week turns its banks and bridges into the grandstand for a programme that has been bringing emigrants home for sixty years.
A week of parades, river races and fireworks
The festival’s signature events are built on the water: raft races and river frolics on the Moy, and the Moy Swim, one of Ireland’s oldest river swims, raced over 600 metres and 2.5 kilometres through the town. Heritage Day fills the streets with vintage machinery and old trades, and the Mardi Gras parade ends under fireworks over the river.
Around the set pieces runs a week of street music, family events and open-air shows, almost all of it free. It is a community festival in the true sense, run by the town for the town, with visitors folded in as honorary locals for the week.
Ballina and north Mayo in festival week
Festival week is the liveliest possible time to use Ballina as a base for north Mayo. Downpatrick Head and its sea stack, the Céide Fields and the heritage coast at Killala are each about half an hour away, and the beach and seaweed baths at Enniscrone sit just across the estuary, so mornings can hold the wild coast and evenings the festival.
The town keeps its everyday strengths through the week: the Jackie Clarke Collection, the walks of Belleek Woods, and anglers working the Ridge Pool below the bridges, festival or no festival.
B&Bs and guesthouses near the Ballina Salmon Festival
The closest listings in the directory to Ballina, distances shown on each. July is the town’s big week, so contact owners early and book direct.
Frequently asked
Ballina Salmon Festival, common questions
How long has the Ballina Salmon Festival been running?
Since 1964, when it was founded as the Moy Salmon Festival. It is one of Ireland’s longest-running community festivals and the oldest along the Wild Atlantic Way.
Is the Ballina Salmon Festival free to attend?
Yes, almost all of the week, street music, family events and open-air shows, is free, alongside ticketed set pieces like the parade and river races.
What else is there to do near Ballina during festival week?
Downpatrick Head, the Céide Fields and the heritage coast at Killala are each about half an hour away, and the beach and seaweed baths at Enniscrone sit just across the estuary.
Going this year?
Book a bed near the Salmon Festival direct
The Ballina Salmon Festival is north Mayo at its warmest, and its beds go early. Booking a B&B direct puts a local owner between you and the best week on the Moy.