Don’t feel too guilty if you can’t keep up with Galway!

Double Vision with Charlie Adley

Hooh mumma. Galway’s revving up, the city’s rear tyres spinning on the axle as we head into the middle of this mad July.

This year we’re squeezing the Film Fleadh, the Arts Festival and Race Week into the one month, so there’s no time to lose: you have to decide now.

Are you going to abandon yourself to the craic or will you hide away until all the crazy people have gone?

Will you seek out, pontificate upon and absorb (osmose, dwarling) the wondrous and diverse cocktail of culture that arrives in our small city during these short weeks or prefer to pack a bag and head for the hills?

Maybe, like myself and other Galwegians, you‘ll try to find a balance, intend to visit several exhibitions, sample some street theatre, see a play at the Town Hall Theatre and catch a band at the Big Top.

Then the festival’s over and you’re saying that you can’t believe you did it again; another year without seeing anything, what a slack git you are, next year it’ll be different but also I mean look at those prices, really, they seem to have shot up or is it just me?

Then you’ll say something about really wanting to get to the track this year, to make up for the lack of effort during the Arts Festival, and yeh, maybe Family Day, is that on the Sunday, or you know what, never mind Race Week.

You know what I like, you say, I like the September and October meetings, when there’s less of the crowds and more of the craic. Great racing too, mind, and you talk yourself out of going to the Galway Races as part of your excuse speech for not partaking in the Arts Festival.

So it goes. It’s hard to keep up when you live in a city that has so many magnificent festivals, performers, players, musicians and writers. Oh and shout out a great big ‘Galway Goodonya!’ to the administrators, to the folk who put the chairs out and do the dishes, without whom everything would be a proper cock-up altogether.

Galway’s got the lot. We can run your party. We’ll take on your Triathlon or your World Chef Convention. We will keep you laughing at our Comedy Festival through raging storm force Atlantic tempests and entertain the entire country for seven days at the end of this month.

To read Charlie’s column in full, please see this week’s Galway City Tribune.