The festival celebrates not only Che Guevara's visit to Kilkee in 1961 but also all things cultural from Latin-America including music, poetry, dance, film, food and a shared history not forgetting the fact that Che Guevara's great grandfather was Irish (Lynch)!

The iconic poster and tee-shirt image of Che Guevara was born as a result of a chance meeting between the artist Jim Fitzpatrick and Che Guevara in Kilkee's Marine Hotel in 1961. Che Guevara and his entourage of 35 were on their way from Prague to Havana and were fog-bound en-route through Shannon Airport.

They ended up staying in Kilkee overnight on 12 September, 1961 in the Strand Hotel in the town. 2011 saw the 50th anniversary of his visit and so the 'Che do Bheatha' Latin-American Cultural Festival was born.

In 2011 it was an honour to have the Cuban Ambassador to Ireland, Teresita Trujillo, open the festival along with the Chilean Consul to Ireland. 2012 will hopefully see more Latin-American consular and musical representation.