Arts Festival smashes previous records

The Galway International Arts Festival broke the 200,000 attendance mark for the first time in its 38-year history, making it the most successful arts extravaganza in the country.

Despite being plagued with shocking weather – and the worst deluge ever for a key Big Top gig – audiences turned out in their droves to hand over their hard earned cash to be entertained, challenged and wowed during the fortnight’s 213 performances, talks and exhibitions across 30 venues.

Although box office records were smashed – with all but a small handful of tickets unsold – record profits were not achieved due to the increased investment in the street theatre, according to festival Chief Executive John Crumlish.

“I wish it did mean record profits,” grinned John. “But we invested a lot in our street programme and the Skywhale. We had a bigger festival and bigger targets as well.”

While they had no official figures for the other arts festivals in the country, a spokesman for the Arts Council which funds them said it was unlikely any other arts event could rival the Galway extravaganza in terms of crowds.

“The St Patrick’s Day Festival in Dublin gets more crowds but is that really an arts event – and it’s free. How many get to the Galway Races – but again that’s not arts. I can’t see any other arts festival doing 200,000 – that’s just huge in a country of four million. It’s amazing,” enthused Joe Stuart.

“I’m delighted for [Artistic Director] Paul Fahy and John Crumlish. It’s a wonderful figure and incredible to see that amount attending an arts festival.”

The Festival Gallery in the former print works of the Connacht Tribune enjoyed 25,000 visitors for Australian artist Patricia Piccinini’s captivating exhibition Relativity – and proved the biggest talking point for visitors and locals alike.

“As many people went into the gallery as went to the Big Top to see the Coronas last  Saturday night – that’s a record for any exhibition for us,” says John.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune