The Galway Arts Festival is one of Ireland’s longest-standing and most popular festivals of the summer and returns this July for it’s 34th season.

The festival offers a healthy mix of home grown and international talent across theatre, music, comedy, literature and the visual arts keeping the city of the tribes buzzing for a full fortnight. No wonder over 150,000 people checked it out last year alone!

Music

Personally it’s been the draw of some really special gigs that has brought me to the Galway Arts Festival in previous years and it may well do so again.

There’s something for every musical taste from Blondie to Iris Dement, De La Soul to Dé Danann, Gemma Hayes, And So I Watch You From Afar, Jack L, Fionn Regan, James Vincent McMorrow and more.

Theatre

Galway is a city who loves her theatre and it never fails to reflect this in the festival programme. One of this year’s highlights is a world premiere of a new version of Enda Walsh’s ‘Misterman‘. Not only is it Cillian Murphy‘s long-awaited return to the stage but also the first time he and Walsh have worked together since the hugely successful ‘Disco Pigs‘. For something lighter check out a different take on Shakespeare with The Comedy of Errors or the highly acclaimed production of Love, Love, Love by Paines Plough and Drum Theatre from the UK.

If you want something to take the whole family to check out ‘Controlled Falling Project‘ described as

“…a thrilling and sophisticated circus experiment, where old science meets new circus in a heart–stopping, high–energy creative spectacle”.

Mar bhfuil rud as Gaeilge uait, beidh léiriú ‘Bás Taismeach Ainríalaí‘ le Dario Fo as Gaeilge ar siúl i Sheanscoil Sailrearna, Indreabhan ó 18ú go dtí an 24ú Iúil.

The full programme and festival information is online at galwayartsfestival.ie. Tickets get snapped up pretty quickly for most events to get in there early and book your tickets via the website, by phone on 091 566577, in person at the box office at the Galway Tourist Office on Forster Street or even by post (full info here).

If you have an iPhone/iPod touch you can download the festival app for free here via iTunes with the full programme of events, venue mapping on Google Maps, festival news and more.

You can also follow the latest updates from the festival team on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/galwayartsfestival and Twitter at @galwayartsfest. Maybe see you out west!