Festival has already hit 90% of its sales target

Date Published: 14-Jul-2011

By Judy Murphy

Irish band Bell X1 became the first Arts Festival Big Top concert to sell out, when the remaining tickets for the gig were snapped up yesterday, according to the Festival’s Artistic Director Paul Fahy.

With the Arts Festival having already reached 90 per cent of its sales targets, it looks like this will be the most successful year financially since 2006, he adds.

With theatre shows, and many of the comedy shows and smaller music gigs already being sold out, festival goers have shifted their focus to the Big Top Concerts, with Bell X1 proving to be the most popular concert so far.

The tent was fully erected yesterday, with a team of 64 people putting the finishing touches to it. These include new, Glastonbury style, flags which are new this year.

Tickets for De La Soul and Blondie’s Big Top shows are also selling briskly. At present the Big Top concert with most ticket availability is Monday night’s AfroCubism show, which Paul Fahy describes as “Buena Vista meets the heart of Africa”.

Festival Box Office staff have been reporting that Irish people are not going abroad on holidays this year and instead have opted to spend time in Galway, which is also accounting for increased sales. As a result, Festival organisers are expecting the domestic market to increase this year.

“And they are also reporting that there has been such doom and gloom around that people just want to enjoy a good couple of weeks,” says Paul.

The Festival runs until July 24 and details of events and ticket availability can be got at the Box Office in the Fáilte Ireland office on Forster Street, by phone at 091-566577 and online at www.galwayartsfestival.com

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.