Madness and mayhem in pipeline at Arts Festival

Date Published: 07-Jul-2011

By Bernie Ní Fhlatharta

The summer party season officially kicks off with the start of the Galway Arts Festival on Monday.

The two-week festival, which will see crowds totalling more than 160,000 people at 43 different shows (including the Macnas Parade), is expected to bring €19 million into the local economy.

Tickets sales are already looking good for festival shows both at the Box Office at Forster Street and online, although the event’s Chief Executive, John Crumlish, said he had his fingers crossed when he said they were “on target.”

“We are pleased with the rate of ticket sales, but, of course, I reservedly say we are on target to meet this year’s outlay.

“We see from the source of queries and sales where people are from – about 46% are from the West, 27% from the rest of the country and 27% from abroad.

Festival organisers have kept their ticket prices at the same rate as previous years, conscious of the continuing recession.

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