Galway International Arts Festival 2023
The 46th Galway International Arts Festival is set to take place this year from the 17 to the 30 of July. During the fourteen day affair, there are 119 events set to take place in 31 different locations across Galway. Showcasing a large variety of theatre, music, comedy, visual arts, dance, and literary events from all over the globe, there is sure to be something for everyone to enjoy.
Theatre, Circus, Dance and Spectacle
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the world of theatre and dance, the Galway International Arts Festival has a number of options available. To begin will be Sean O’Casey’s trilogy DruidO’Casey, directed by Garry Hynes, which is considered one of the greatest Irish stories ever told. The showing will be in the Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square.
The trilogy will be performed by a company of eighteen actors and will take place over one day. Guests will have the opportunity to choose whether to watch the trilogy in its entirety or a selected part. Tickets for this performance range between €28-€85.
From the 17 to the 22 of July, The Pulse, directed by Darcy Grant, will present a combination of astonishing acrobats with thirty strong female choir performers in this amazing performance. The spectacle will begin at 8pm every night and will last 1 hour and 10 minutes, with no interval. Taking place at the Festival Theatre, Kingfisher, University of Galway, the tickets will cost between €25 and €37.50.
Volcano, which is part theatre, part mini-series and part dance, and described as being “like an episode of Black Mirror on steroids” will be showing in The Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane. Tickets to see individual episodes will cost €15 and to see all episodes are €50. Check out the festival website to see what days each episode will be showing.
The Silent Disco Walking Tours will lead people on a ‘silent disco’ power walk through the streets of Galway. The Australian Guru Dudu, aka David Naylot, and Madame Cha Cha are sure to deliver hilarious commentary that will be heard through the noise-cancelling headphones as you are led through the streets from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch. The meeting point for this event is the Festival Garden, Eyre Square. Shows will take place at 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 6.30pm, and 8pm, and tickets will cost €10.
While the plays and events discussed above are not all the theatre, circus and dance related events that will be available to festival goers during the two week event, they are the ones that will be shown more often throughout the two weeks. For a full list of what’s on in this category, the times, locations and prices, make sure to check out the Galway International Arts Festival programme.
Music
If theatre isn’t your idea of a good time, why not check out the long lineup of artists that are set to play during the two week affair. There are a number of venues that will be hosting these musical acts. Below are the venues, and a select list of who will be playing there.
Heineken Big Top Fisheries Field
There are a number of big-name bands that are set to play at the Galway International Arts Festival.The seven piece band, Fat Freddy’s Drop, will perform on Thursday 20 at 8pm with tickets costing €39.50. American indie rock band Pavement will play on Monday July 24. Doors will open at 7pm, and the show will begin at 8pm. Tickets will be on sale for €49.50.
The Saw Doctors will play on Friday 21 and Sunday 29 at 7pm, with tickets costing €45. The Coronas are set to play here on Saturday 22 at 8pm. These tickets will cost €44.50. On Sunday 23, at 6.30pm, Irish producer KETTAMA will perform, and tickets will cost €35. Kaiser Chiefs will perform on Thursday 27 of June. They will begin playing at 8pm, and tickets will cost €49.50.
Monroe’s Live
Starting off the week, KT Tunstall will play at 8pm. On Thursday 20, Irish rock-band In Tua Nua will perform at 8.30pm. The show will be over 18s only and tickets will cost €25. On Tuesday 25, Canadian singer Martha Wainwright will perform at 8.30pm and tickets will be sold for €35. On Wednesday 26, James Yorkston and Nina Persson will play at 8.30pm.
Róisín Dubh
Here, Irish singer Sorcha Richardson is set to play on Tuesday, July 18 at 8pm. Irish duo Les SalAmandas will perform on Wednesday 26 at 8pm and Australian songwriter Robert Forster will play on the next day at 8pm with tickets costing €23. In the same venue, John Conneely Inc’s Big Band will perform on Sunday 23 at 8pm, with tickets costing €16. Ailbhe Reddy (Wednesday 19 at 8pm), Junior Brother (Tuesday 25 at 8pm) and London Astrobeat Orchestra (Thursday 20, and Friday 21 at 8pm) will all play at Róisín Dubh for over 18s.
This is not a full list of the festival’s music lineup, so make sure to check out the programme to see who else will be performing this year.
Visual Arts and Architecture
There are a number of visual art pieces that will be on display throughout the Galway International Arts Festival. Below are a selected few that will be on show, but be sure to check out the full list on the festival website.
Diana Copperwhite presents Onomatopoeia, a collection of oil paintings which are both complex and energetic. These paintings will be available to see at the Festival Printworks Gallery, on Market Street from July 17 to 30. The exhibition will be open from 11am to 6pm.
Luke McMullan presents Monarch, a collection of paintings that celebrates the transformative power of renewal and invites viewers to reflect on their own ability to change and transform. This collection will be available to see at the Kenny Gallery from July 14 to August 8 from 9am to 5pm.
Far Away & Close to Home is Edna Burke’s exploration and celebration of kitsch décor, bold nostalgia, and religious iconography from Ireland’s past which is linked to the present through Burke’s unique voice and visual language. This collection will be on show at the Outset Gallery from the 18 to the 30 of July.
There are a number of other events and panels that were not discussed in this article, so if you are interested in finding out the complete lineup for the festival and all the events that will take place during the fourteen days, make sure to check out the calendar at the bottom of the festival programme for an easy to follow guide of what’s going on every day.
Leave a comment below and make sure to let us know what you are most looking forward to seeing in this fun-filled festival this July.
