[1] The third festival took place from 11 to 13 July 1980 and participating artists included Emmylou Harris, Paul Brady, Clannad and The Chieftains[1] The fourth festival was held from 10 to 12 July 1981 and was headlined by Chris de Burgh, with support artists including Lindisfarne, The Beat, Paul Brady, Planxty and De Dannan.
[10] It was headlined by Rory Gallagher and Van Morrison, while Peter Green, Christy Moore, Amazulu, Dennis Bovell, Climax Blues Band, John Martyn, Moving Hearts and Stockton's Wing also played.
[12] After over a thousand people without tickets had breached the fence on the first day, organisers recruited members of a Hells Angels motorcycle group to bolster security.
A further breach on the second day led to running battles between festival goers and the Hells Angels, which resulted in injuries, motorcycles being vandalised and tents burned.
A festival was scheduled for 28 June 2003 as a one-day event across two stages and was to have been headlined by Christy Moore, while The Frames, Suzanne Vega, Mundy, Damien Dempsey and Luka Bloom were also set to perform.
[3] A further revival attempt was made in 2016 when a one-off "Lisdoonvarna Folk festival" was held as a two-day event near to the original site.