June bank holiday in Kildare: Five must-do activities for the long weekend
To help make your June bank holiday planning a little easier, here are our five top picks for what to do over the bank holiday weekend in Kildare.
What's De Craic? Irish music festival
When: Saturday May 31 – Sunday June 1
Kildare's Irish music festival, What's De Craic, is returning to the county for another year.
On Saturday May 31, The Whistlin' Donkeys will headline, with The Dublin City Ramblers, Róisín Dubh, Zak Moran (Acoustrix) and Danny Carthy also set to perform.
On Sunday June 1, The Tumbling Paddies are the headliners with performances from George Murphy & The Rising Sons, The Finns, Seán Magee and Katelin Tierney also performing throughout the day.
The festival is being held at the North Kildare Sports Club in Kilcock, Co Kildare.
Tickets are available on the What's De Craic music festival website.
Gordon Bennett Irish Classic Run 2025
When: Friday May 30 – Monday June 2
The Gordon Bennett classic car run takes place over the June Bank Holiday weekend and travels through the counties of Laois, Carlow and Kildare, all three of which were chosen for the original 1903 race called the Gordon Bennett Cup which was the first international motor race to be held in Ireland.
This historic route now runs through many interesting and scenic locations including in Kildare.
On day three of the car run, Sunday June 1, the drivers will arrive in Co Kildare. Departing from Treacys the Heath in Co Laois at 11am, the cars will retrace the steps of the 1903 Gordon Bennett Race with stops in Athy.
From Athy, the car run will travel to Kildare Town for a street party hosted by the Cill Dar Car Club.
On day four of the event, Monday June 2, the cars will return to the Kildare countryside after driving through Co Laois. Once the car run arrives in Kildare, they will head to Monasterevin where there will be a street festival and a tea party held in the town.
For the full itinerary and a map of the full Gordon Bennett route showing what locations the vintage cars will be travelling through in the three counties, you can visit the Gordon Bennett Classic website.
Lovestock
When: Saturday May 31 – Monday June 2
Lovestock, a mental health and wellness festival, is coming to Booleigh in Co Kildare this June bank holiday weekend.
This unusual festival combines Irish culture, music and heritage, with mental health and wellness.
Some of the musical acts set to take the stage over the weekend include Paddy Casey, Ciara Lawless and Jack Keeshan, among much, much more.
There will also be a Therapy Tent hosting a variety of events such as fire walking, mindfulness and yoga/mantra and singing. Meanwhile, in the Thoughts & Talks Hut, there will be intro to herbalism, intro to beehives and intro to trauma, along with many other talks.
For the full line-up of events for 2025, you can visit the Lovestock website.
The Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens
The Irish National Stud and Japanese Gardens is the perfect way to get out and about this June Bank Holiday weekend.
It is the only stud farm in Ireland open to the public and offers visitors a chance to get up close to the stallions in the paddock or even spot a foal with its mother.
Aside from the horses, the tranquil oasis that is the Japanese Garden is also an amazing place to visit with its colourful flowers and plants and babbling streams with plenty of picture opportunities.
Kildare Farm Foods, Open Farm and Shop
Kildare Farm Foods, Open Farm and Shop is located just a short drive away from Kildare Town and makes the perfect day out for the whole family.
The Open Farm is free of charge to visit and is home to a wide variety of animals including camels, an ostrich, Emu, goats, pigs and much more.
You can also pay to take part in other activities such as playing a round of mini golf or visiting the Teddy Bear Factory. Make sure to book online in advance if you want to take part in these activities.
There is also a café onsite offering breakfast, lunch and tasty snacks.
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But the fact that I don't need to stress about that, it's been really good and [there have been] fewer competitions and just focusing more on training, which is something I've never really had before.' **** 'I can wear both my medals and my identity with pride.' Irish taekwondo Olympian Jack Woolley shares why representation isn't just about visibility, it's a victory, both on and off the mat.#Pride | #Pride2025 I @Irishtaekwondo I @TeamIreland I @worldtaekwondo — The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 20, 2025 Outside of sport, too, Woolley feels happy. He recently got engaged to Dave, a personal trainer, whom he met in 2021, although the wedding will likely have to wait until after LA. The Irish star also recently teamed up with the Olympics to produce a video (see above) in which Woolley declares he is 'proud' to be a gay man. Woolley came out when he was 15, and while he has not hidden his sexuality since becoming a public figure, he says 'sometimes I find it uncomfortable to talk about' and often felt 'there was no point in talking about it'. He adds, 'Sometimes the personal life isn't well received by the sporting community.' Earlier this year, when Woolley posted news of his engagement to Dave, the Tallaght native was taken aback by the ignorant responses he received. 'There was a big increase in homophobia online, just comments and DMs. I've seen messages from people before they knew. It was like: 'You're my role model, can you give me a shout out, blah, blah, blah, we love you and your style.' 'And then they see I'm in a same sex relationship, I get a load of abuse off them. 'One minute, you're telling me I'm your role model. And now, I'm getting this abuse off you. 'I can just press block and that's the end of it for me. But that's just the way I was brought up. I'm a bit more thick-skinned. A lot of people might struggle with stuff like that, so if I'm able to raise awareness and put my name out there, and show the good and the negative side of being a gay athlete, it might help others in the future.' Woolley says 'nobody cared' when he came out in secondary school nearly 12 years ago, but he has had to deal with abuse in sport. 'I can say it doesn't affect me, but sometimes it does. You never know who's going to be at these competitions or who you're going to bump into. 'I've seen competitors that are going to be at your competition commenting on stuff like this, telling me to get out of the sport, I'm not welcome in the sport and everything like that. 'In 2022, I was walking into the ring against an opponent, and his supporters were shouting slurs at me. That was the first time I had it in person. 'I could have gone one of two ways. I could have panicked and lost that match, or I could have done what I did, and I laughed at them. I won the match, and then I just laughed at them again and walked off. 'But it can be tough. I'm able to act one way, but as I'm sitting at home and thinking about it, it can be quite difficult, because nobody else has to experience that.' In this climate, with homophobia particularly prominent on various social media platforms, Woolley can understand why some athletes and others might be reluctant to speak openly about their sexuality. 'I've had a good few DMs from people who are struggling, especially since being so open about it on national TV [during Dancing with the Stars]. 'Even talking about how I met my fiancé and his struggles — because I came out at 15, he didn't come out until he was 35. So that's two completely different stories. 'I do have his permission, but we do talk about it. And if people are struggling, I have no problem chatting with them, seeing how it fits into their lives. 'I think everybody's different. It'd be wrong of me to turn around and tell everybody: 'Oh yeah, come out. It's great.' I don't know other people's situations. 'It's not my job to do that, and I'm not going to sit around all day. But if I can help them on an individual basis — it's not something I can say for everybody — but do what's best for you is the most important thing, talk to somebody, find somebody you're comfortable speaking to, whether they even understand, or it's just to get it off your chest.' Whether it's dealing with homophobic hatred or coping with the intense pressure of a big taekwondo event, for Woolley, this past year has been all about being better equipped at handling his emotions in fraught circumstances. 'There was a saying my coach said to me the other day, and I'm trying to remember the exact words. ''You can't control the storm, but you can control how you act within it,' or something like that. It's just stuck with me. I can't control what's going on, but I can control how I react.'
