Donegal's summer festival , one of the biggest in the county, is held in early July. The town also has a lively music scene. Many of the town's pubs offer traditional entertainment year round and Thursday's Donegal Democrat newspaper provides local listings. The Olde Castle bar, next to the castle, has an excellent restaurant and a cosy bar. Lively McGroarty's , a few doors down, has a Thursday night traditional session and other music at weekends, while the nearby Central Hotel is the place for home-grown country and western. Others are mainly out on Main Street: Zack's has a young crowd and music most nights; the Star Bar is a lively place with sing-songs and live acts at weekends, the National has more traditional music in the lounge at weekends, and best of all is The Schooner , just past the cathedral, with a nautical interior, an original nineteenth-century bar and music on Fridays and Sundays. In LAGHY , three miles south on the Sligo road, Carlin's pub has old-time dancing on Tuesday and Irish nights in summer. If all you want is a quiet pint, try TA­rconaill , an old-time bar on the Diamond. Nero's , on Main Street, holds regular discos , but the most popular are in the Abbey Hotel (Sun 10.30pm-2am; sometimes also on Fridays in summer).

If you're after souvenirs, or simply a way to fill a wet afternoon, then it might be worth heading out to the Craft Village (Mon-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 11am-6pm), three-quarters of a mile south of town on the Sligo road. The workshops are leased to professional craftworkers - including one of Ireland's best-known uilleann pipe-makers - whom you can watch in action.