THE 35th Kilkenny Arts Festival came to a close last night after 10 days of music, theatre, visual art and street performances from around the world.
English ambient stalwarts Spiritualized played their festival debut in St Canice's cathedral to a sell-out audience as one of the festival highlights last night.
Colourful street spectacles wowed festival-goers in between showers yesterday, with performances by Cirque Bijou and Bread and Butter Theatre.
"We are delighted with how everything went off; it was an amazing 10 days following months of preparation and hard work by a huge and dedicated team," said Maeve Butler, festival publicity co-ordinator.
"This was the biggest Kilkenny Arts Festival yet, and we're looking forward to doing it all over again next year," added Ms Butler.
The annual arts event, which attracted more than 85,000 people to the city, is worth €10 million to the local economy.
This year's event saw performances by Mercury Rev, the world's leading countertenor Andreas Scholl, and music from the Ulster Orchestra.
There were readings by Man Booker Prize nominee Sebastian Barry and Booker Prize winner Anne Enright.
Veteran war correspondent John Lee Anderson gave the annual Hubert Butler lecture entitled America at War.
A symposium entitled The GAA and the Creation of Modern Irelandattracted a large audience on Monday night.