36th Galway Arts Festival gets off to a flying start with impromtu show

This year’s Galway Arts Festival got off the ground yesterday evening when it was officially opened at the Radisson Blu Hotel with special guest Tim O’Connor, Chairman of The Gathering.

Participating artists in Festival 2013, which is in its 36th year, who attended the opening reception included Stella & Lou playwright Bruce Graham, director BJ Jones from Northlight Theatre and actor Francis Guinan who plays Lou arrived in Galway with many family and friends from Chicago over the weekend. Francis who is making his first visit to Ireland is well known from the hit US TV drama Boss was greeted by many fans of the show. Internationally renowned artist John Gerrard whose exhibition Cuban School is featured at the ABSOLUT Festival Gallery was also in attendance with friends and colleagues from Austria and London as was Elena Zardini and Neil McConnon from London’s Barbican.

Chairperson of the Arts Council Pat Moylan who is also the producer of A Galway Girl was with Galway actress Claire Barrett who stars in the show, while Druid’s artistic director Garry Hynes was with Druid manager Sarah Lynch and producer Tim Smith who had flown in from New York. Earlier that afternoon sensational fire breathing show Dragons surprised crowds on the streets of Galway with an impromptu show of excitement and terror in equal measure from the world famous Sarruga from Barcelona.

Company members of Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre and director Michael Keegan-Dolan made a brief visit to the opening party prior to their Irish premiere of Rite of Spring and Petrushka, at the Black Box Theatre on Monday night. Olwen Fouéré whose show Riverrun opens on Monday, a Galway Arts Festival co-production with The Emergency Room was with her producer Jen Coppinger and were joined by Culture Ireland’s Christine Sisk and Ireland at Venice commissioner Elizabeth Francis.

Festival highlights during the first week include two unmissable Festival Big Top concerts with Grizzly Bear and The Strypes on Friday 19th July and Josh Ritter and Mick Flannery on Saturday and an action-packed street theatre programme will see the streets of Galway come alive during the weekend. Music higlights include Kaleidoscope featuring two world premieres; The Arcady Experience featuring a new line-up of extraordinary musicans and special guests; Frankie Gavin and De Dannan and the prolific Matthew E. White.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.