The Strokestown International Poetry Festival was founded in 1999. It takes place annually on the first weekend of May, in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. The weekend provides a world-renowned forum for excellence in poetry. Strokestown is famous for the large audiences that attend all readings and allied to the welcome, the friendliness and the scenery, the weekend is an unforgettable experience and a thrilling immersion in contemporary poetry. ‘Our mission is to showcase contemporary poetry, local, national and international, foster the development of emerging writers and consolidate poetry in local cultural life bringing it to the widest possible audience’.