Founder & Editor · Last reviewed 2026-08-19
The Listowel Harvest Festival is seven days of Flat and National Hunt racing on the Island, the low-lying course beside the River Feale in Co. Kerry, run every September. It is Ireland's joint-longest race meeting alongside Galway, and the last big festival of the Irish summer.
The 2026 festival runs Sunday 20 to Saturday 26 September, built around the Wednesday centrepiece: the Guinness Kerry National, a Grade 3 handicap chase worth €200,000 and Ireland's most valuable race of its kind. Ladies Day, the busiest day of the week, falls on the Friday.
The 2025 running drew a confirmed 99,610 racegoers across the seven days, up 4% on 2024's 96,046, with Ladies Day alone pulling a 28,000 crowd. Course director Pat Healy has estimated the week is worth around €14 million to the north Kerry economy.
This page covers the day-by-day schedule, the history behind the Kerry National, how to watch from home, and what to expect if you are going. For the full picture, see our Listowel Harvest Festival guide, and for betting angles at the track, our Listowel betting guide.
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2026 Festival schedule
2026 festival schedule
The festival mixes Flat and jumps racing across its seven days, with the code split settling into an established pattern in recent years: Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday run under National Hunt rules, while Monday and Tuesday are all-Flat cards. The exact allocation of feature races to days can shift year to year, so treat this as the recent pattern rather than a fixed rule.
| Day | Date (2026) | Code | Feature race |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 20 September | National Hunt | Kerry Dairy Ireland Handicap Chase (€45,000) |
| Monday | 21 September | Flat | John McGuire Handicap (€45,000) |
| Tuesday | 22 September | Flat | Listowel Stakes (Listed) |
| Wednesday | 23 September | National Hunt | Guinness Kerry National (Grade 3, €200,000) |
| Thursday | 24 September | National Hunt | Lartigue Hurdle (Listed, €60,000) |
| Friday | 25 September | National Hunt | Ladies Day; William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Listed, €100,000) |
| Saturday | 26 September | National Hunt | Charlie Chute Memorial Handicap Chase (€50,000) |
The Guinness Kerry National is a handicap chase over 3 miles (officially recorded as 2 miles 7 furlongs 180 yards), sponsored by Guinness (Diageo Ireland), and traditionally run on the Wednesday, with a recent off-time around 4:20 to 4:25pm. It is the only Graded race of the week; the Listowel Stakes, the Lartigue Hurdle and the William Hill Handicap Hurdle all carry Listed status.
Ladies Day, on the Friday, is the festival's busiest day, built around the McElligotts Kia Best Dressed Lady competition. Saturday closes the week with the Sustainable Style Competition, run with Listowel Tidy Towns.
History and the Kerry National
History and the Kerry National
Racing at Listowel traces back to an annual gathering at Ballyeigh Strand near Ballybunion, which combined games, horse racing and a pre-arranged faction fight. After a notorious clash there in 1834, the meeting moved to Listowel, where the first race meeting took place in 1858. The festival grew from two days to four in 1970, five in 1977, and finally to seven in 2002, making Listowel Ireland's joint-longest meeting alongside Galway.
The Kerry National itself was first run in 1945, won by the 13-year-old Star Of Venosas for trainer Henry Harty and jockey Harry Harty (his son) for a winner's purse of £252. It has grown into Ireland's most valuable handicap chase, worth €200,000 today.
Recent winners include Spanish Harlem (2025, 16/1, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by Danny Mullins) and Flooring Porter (2024, 6/1, Gavin Cromwell and Keith Donoghue), a dual Cheltenham Stayers' Hurdle winner. The best-known name on the roll of honour is Monty's Pass, who won the 2002 Kerry National for trainer Jimmy Mangan and jockey Barry Geraghty before going on to win the 2003 Aintree Grand National by 12 lengths. Willie Mullins has won the race several times across the decades, most recently with Spanish Harlem, and Gordon Elliott won back-to-back runnings in 2016 and 2017.
Source: Stablebet's Listowel Harvest Festival research fact pack, cross-checked against listowelraces.ie's official roll of honour and HRI result pages.
TV coverage and how to watch
TV coverage and how to watch
Irish racing, including the Listowel Harvest Festival, is broadcast under Racing TV's media-rights arrangement covering every Irish racecourse, so a Racing TV subscription is the day-in, day-out way to watch the full week's cards, live and via replay.
The Kerry National on the Wednesday frequently receives terrestrial coverage on RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster, alongside the subscription options. Raceday TV has also broadcast from the festival in recent years.
Streaming is available through the Racing TV app and Racing TV Extra, and race replays are widely available after each card.
Raceday at Listowel
Raceday at Listowel
Listowel Racecourse sits at the Island, about a kilometre south of Listowel town on the N69, roughly 25km north-east of Tralee, 80km south-west of Limerick and about 110km north-west of Cork. There is no railway station in Listowel itself; the nearest is Tralee (Casement), about a half-hour drive away, with regular services from Dublin Heuston and special bus services to Listowel laid on during the festival. Kerry Airport is also about half an hour away, and a daily Bus Eireann service covers the area from Tralee.
There is no strict dress code for general admission across the week. Ladies Day, on the Friday, is when most racegoers dress up for the McElligotts Kia Best Dressed Lady competition, and the Saturday's Sustainable Style Competition rewards vintage and pre-loved fashion.
Catering across the week includes a restaurant, public bars, food outlets and mobile units, with live music after racing each day and a big screen at the course for the September festival.
If you are planning to bet across the week, our Listowel betting guide covers the track and the going, and our Listowel Harvest Festival betting offers page compares verified free bets for the meeting. For a day-out plan, see our Listowel day out guide.
Responsible gambling: if you are betting across festival week, set a budget before you start and stick to it. Free, confidential help is available at BeGambleAware.org. 18+.
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