Galway International Arts Festival has been connecting audiences and artists for almost four decades.

Founded in 1978, it has grown into an event with a major reputation where, in 2016, there were 200,000 attendances at 200 performances, talks and exhibitions in 26 venues over 14 days.

Galway International Arts Festival presents and produces programmes of the highest quality across all art forms featuring theatre, music, visual arts, opera, street spectacle, dance, discussion and comedy.

Highlights from the programme in recent years include; Elvis Costello, The National, Primal Scream, Philip Glass, New York Dolls, David Gray, David Byrne, Brad Mehldau, Blondie, Kronos Quartet, Brodsky Quartet, Bon Iver, David Hockney, Joni Mitchell, St Vincent, Patricia Picinini, Henri Matisse and David Mach.

Visiting international theatre and dance companies have included John Mahoney and Northlight Theatre, Cillian Murphy, Enda Walsh, The Royal National Theatre, Propeller, The Royal Court, Steppenwolf, Fabulous Beast Dance Company, Hofesh Shechter Dance Company, The Abbey Theatre, Druid Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic.

Galway International Arts Festival returns in 2024 with a packed programme of theatre, circus, music, visual art, street art and spectacle, comedy and talks, that looks at who we are and what concerns us. The Festival includes seven world premieres, a new visual arts Festival commission, the biggest music line-up to date and continues to present exciting new theatre.

Other Festival highlights include a new production from Druid of Endgame, Samuel Beckett’s comic-tragic masterpiece, directed by Tony Award-winning Garry Hynes; the sensational Australian circus and acrobatic performers Circa with the European premiere of the astounding Duck Pond, a reimagining of the classic Swan Lake, at the Festival Theatre, Kingfisher, University of Galway; and from the Lebanon Tania El Khoury’s Cultural Exchange Rate a unique immersive installation which examines the never-ending story of migration.

From Druids to Dragons and Artists to Acrobats!

Galway International Arts Festival takes place 15-28 July, 2024 in Galway, Ireland.