Galway

<p>It’s summer in the city! And while the weather is temperamental, the sun is shining on the striking blue outline of the Big Top, as it takes pride of place once again in Fisheries Field.</p>
<p>Anticipation is building ahead of the Galway International Arts Festival, which takes place from 15-28 July 2024, in what is one of their most ambitious programmes to date.</p>
<p>“There is simply nowhere quite like Galway during the Festival, “says Artistic Director Paul Fahy.</p>
<p>&nbsp;“The city offers a special magical atmosphere every summer. We look forward to welcoming our audiences to Galway this July to share and enjoy two wonderful weeks of great art and performance.”</p>
<h4>A Significant Economic Boost:</h4>
<p>There were over 400,000 attendances at Galway International Arts Festival 2023 and the festival hopes to increase that attendance even further in 2024.</p>
<p>With a packed programme of theatre, circus, music, visual art, street art and spectacle, comedy and talks, it includes seven world premieres.</p>
<p>Not only that, but there is also a new visual arts festival commission, the biggest music line-up to date and new theatre co-produced by GIAF, with long-time partners Landmark Productions and this year, Once Off Productions.</p>
<p>“It is very exciting to produce and host such exciting world, Irish and European premieres as part of one our most ambitious festival programmes to date,” outlines Paul.</p>
<h4>Theatre Highlights:</h4>
<p>Theatre audiences can look forward to the world premiere of a breathtaking new play Reunion by Mark O’Rowe.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The production features a rollcall of Ireland’s finest actors, including Ian-Lloyd Anderson, Cathy Belton, Venetia Bowe, Stephen Brennan, Robert Sheehan and Catherine Walker.</p>
<p>Other premieres include Unspeakable Conversations by Christian O’Reilly, The Map of Argentina by Marina Carr and a new immersive theatre installation Dining Room - part of an ongoing extraordinary series Rooms - created by Enda Walsh and Paul Fahy.</p>
<p>Other highlights include a new production from Druid of Endgame, Samuel Beckett’s comic-tragic masterpiece, directed by Tony Award-winning Garry Hynes.</p>
<p>Australian circus and acrobatic performers Circa reimagine Swan Lake with the European premiere of Duck Pond.</p>
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<p><em>Image courtesy of the GIAF Facebook Page.</em></p>
<h4>Immersed in Art:</h4>
<p>From the Lebanon, Tania El Khoury’s Cultural Exchange Rate is a unique immersive installation which examines the never-ending story of migration.</p>
<p>Known for her extraordinary lifelike hybrid creatures, Australian sculptor Patricia Piccinini will display an incredible body of work We Travel Together at the Festival Gallery.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Other exhibitions include works by Bernadette Kiely, Miriam de Búrca, Brian Bourke, Karen Cox, Brian Bollard, Yvonne McGuinness, Cecilia Danell and Katerina Gribkoff, Seán O’Riordan, Peter Bradley and a site-specific group show featuring seven female artists When We Cease to Understand the World in the incredible setting of Interface, Lough Inagh Valley, Connemara.</p>
<p>Galway International Arts Festival Chief Executive John Crumlish said, “It is a privilege for us all at GIAF to be able to present this festival programme.”</p>
<h4>Music Line Up:</h4>
<p>GIAF’s live music programme is its largest to date, with performances from The Saw Doctors, Annie Mac, Passenger, Leftfield, Stewart Copeland, Gavin James, Jess Glynne, KETTAMA, Kneecap and Block Rockin Beats scheduled for the Heineken® Big Top.</p>
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<h4>Róisín Dubh:</h4>
<p>The music programme continues with an exciting line-up at Róisín Dubh, including Niamh Regan, Susan O’Neill, Glasshouse, Telebox, The Undertones, Muireann Bradley, Will Butler and Sister Squares, Simple Kid and more.</p>
<h4>Monroes Live:</h4>
<p>At Monroes, enjoy Róisín O, Teddy Thompson, George Murphy, Tara Howley, Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Oisin Leech with special guests Lemoncello, Lumiere, Gruff Rhys and Darren Kiely.</p>
<h4>St. Nicholas’ Church:</h4>
<p>St. Nicholas’ Church hosts Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo, and ConTempo with the In Flow Gamelan Group, a pitched percussion ensemble made up of performers with intellectual disabilities.</p>
<h4>First Thought Talks:</h4>
<p>Guests will include journalists Marion McKeone and Fintan O’Toole; novelists Colm Tóibín, Andrew O’Hagan, Mike McCormack and Elaine Feeney; academics and authors Diarmaid Ferriter and Pankaj Mishra; philosopher Susan Neiman; actor and activist Liz Carr; tech expert Elaine Burke; climate change adviser Marie Donnelly; barrister Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh; playwright Marina Carr and psychiatrist Brendan Kelly, amongst a host of others.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Topics will include the crucial choice facing the US electorate, the nature of the world after climate transition, the rise of machines, the possibilities and disadvantages of a United Ireland, how close are we actually to a nuclear catastrophe and much more.</p>
<h4>Free Street Programme:</h4>
<p>This summer sees the incredible Planet Vapeur’s roam the city’s medieval streets with the spectacular giant, winged-horse Pegasus; while Guru Duru bring their ever-popular Silent Disco Walking Tours to town, and the spectacular Les P’Tits Bras’ new aerial show West Wind will bring Eyre Square to life with their breathtaking and jaw-dropping aerial acrobatics.</p>
<h4>Festival Gardens:</h4>
<p>The Festival Garden returns to Eyre Square with food, drinks, occasional DJs and live sets from festival artists while Deirdre O’Kane, Mc Gerry Mallon, Randy Feltface and Phil Ellis feature in the comedy line up.</p>
<p>Full programme and booking details for this year’s Galway International Arts Festival can be found at <a href="https://www.giaf.ie/" target="_self">giaf.ie.</a>&nbsp;</p>
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Galway's Big Top Arrives: A Preview of the 2024 Arts Festival

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