Galway Arts Festival
Galway Arts Festival is an annual arts festival that takes place each July in Galway, Ireland. It is Ireland’s leading arts festival and one of the most successful and influential arts enterprises in the country. The Festival is one of the key European arts festivals. It enjoys an international reputation for innovation and excellence.
Galway Arts Festival is an international celebration of the performing and visual arts and an important showcase for Irish arts and international arts. Over 150,000 people attend Festival annually with hundreds of writers, artists, performers and musicians creating theatre, spectacle, street art, music, comedy, literature and music. The cultural activity and celebration lasts for a fortnight.
The Festival creates a huge impact on Galway and remains at the heart of many aspects of life in the city, steering it to its current standing as one of the leading centres for the arts in Ireland. Galway has now been long considered a centre of cultural excellence and the Festival continues to grow as a major attraction for national and international visitors. The Festival’s contribution to the economic, social and cultural life of the west of Ireland is hugely significant.
Founded in 1978 the success of the Festival over the past three decades has placed Galway Arts Festival as a leader in arts provision on a national and international stage. This platform allows artists to enjoy maximum exposure for their work and allows audiences to experience and enjoy a wealth of unique events adding to the magic and diversity of Galway in July each year.
The Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago), the Royal National Theatre (London), the Royal Court Theatre, James Thiérrée, the Stephen Petronio Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance, the Abbey Theatre and Galway’s world famous Druid Theatre have all performed at the Festival. Bill Viola, Joni Mitchell, Hughie O'Donoghue, Walker Evans, David Byrne, Blondie, David Gray, the Brodsky Quartet, Stephen Isserlis and Philip Glass have all recently participated at the Festival
The Festival's current Artistic Director is Paul Fahy. A former one is Patricia Forde.
The Guardian (July 2008) says:
- ..."the peculiar joy of Galway is that it covers the artistic waterfront without, like its famous Scottish sister, (Edinburgh), offering us a deluge. I've rarely encountered a better curated festival or one that more exhilaratingly mixed the local and the international."
Gallery
- Scenes from the Parade (2007)
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A section of the crowd waits for the parade to begin
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Dancing flowers
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Acme workers
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A Dancing cake
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Nurse attends sailor
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Sunflowers on stilts
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Mr. President with attendants
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Taming the Beastie!
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Fish on the move
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Acme workers band
External links
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