Lisdoonvarna, Ireland: Home To Europe's Biggest Matchmaking Festival (PHOTOS)

Lisdoonvarna, a remote town roughly 3 hours from Dublin, Ireland, may seem like an odd destination for the biggest singles festival in Europe, but here it is that, for decades, people have descended to meet their mates.

The town first became an attraction in the mid 18th-century, when a surgeon found the area's mineral waters to be beneficial in disease fighting--the springs are now called the Spa Wells Health Centre and is the only one of its kind in Ireland.

Once visitors started coming to the town for cures, the town turned into, oddly enough, a matchmaking destination. Numerous matchmakers took residence, but there is only one left in the entire county now: Willie Daly, who runs a riding center on the outskirts of town.

Yet the town lives up to its heritage with the annual Matchmaking Festival that starts September 3rd. During the festival, people congregate at local pubs and restaurants for dances that last all day and into the early morning hours,, all the while searching for a mate.

If this piques your interest, there is more to see in Lisdoonvarna than your fellow singles. Take a look at the pictures below for more to do in and around the town.