History of the Festival

The Janesville Irish Fest (JIF) is a new family four-day festival celebrating Irish heritage and culture in the Janesville area. The festival is a citywide collaboration among local organization and businesses. JIF will feature events, exhibitions, fundraisers, food and festivities throughout the city featuring a common Irish theme.

2013 is the inaugural year of the Janesville Irish Fest- however the committee is dedicated to making the festival as successful as possible for it to continue on an annual basis.

The festival was planned surrounding the performance of the popular Irish band Gaelic Storm,  booked at the Janesville Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 5th and Sunday, October 6th.

Several community members from partnering organizations came together to expand on JPAC's Irish band to evolve the event into a city-wide festival celebrating  Irish culture in Janesville.  Janesville has the highest population percentage of Irish residents for a large city in the state of Wisconsin, and why not celebrate with a full-fledged festival!

The Janesville Irish Fest will take place at several locations throughout Janesville- not simply just at one central location, allowing attendees to soak in all that Janesville has to offer.  In addition, the festival will be family-friendly, setting ourselves apart from other Irish festivals in the state.

The festival is aimed at promoting tourism in Janesville and Rock County while providing local residents the opportunity to seek out fun, cultural entertainment.