GIAF brings people together through world-class artistic experiences that are sustainably developed and delivered from the heart. Unique experiences that make people come back again and again.
Whether Galway International Arts Festival is turning a small Irish city on its head for two weeks, taking work on an international tour, or being a forceful year-round presence, every experience is an unforgettable encounter.
The Festival is a 21st Century pilgrimage that works to unlock people's passions and inspires new ways of thinking and acting, sparking connections between ideas, the arts, audiences and performers, creating a bridge from Galway to the world. Every encounter with Galway International Arts Festival is an invitation to embrace creativity and the unexpected.
From all-out party energy at the Heineken Big Top, to quiet contemplation in the Festival galleries, to awe-inspiring street theatre on ancient, cobbled streets, GIAF transforms the city through the arts in an engaging, inspiring and authentic way.
Just like it's host city of Galway. GIAF is special. Worlds, cultures and ideas collide. Inspiring passion, creativity and new ways of thinking.
From intimate venues to large scale venues like the Heineken Big Top and from the wild landscape of Connemara to the streets of Galway where tens of thousands have experienced spectacular performances, the Festival’s settings are as diverse and dynamic as the art itself. Each space offers a different kind of encounter, from quiet contemplation to communal celebration, all rooted in the unique spirit and atmosphere of Galway, a city whose character and creativity are central to the Festival’s identity.
GIAF was founded by a group of local artists who shared a bold vision: to bring world-class art to the West of Ireland while platforming the creativity of Irish artists. Over the decades, the Festival has played a crucial role in establishing Galway as both a cultural capital for the arts and a major destination for cultural tourism.
Throughout its history, GIAF has served as an incubator for new ideas and artistic innovation. It helped to establish several of Galway’s most important arts organisations, including Macnas, Baboró, and the Galway Film Fleadh, and its programme has expanded to encompass theatre, music, visual arts, opera, dance, street spectacle, comedy, and discussion. A defining feature of its work has been its ongoing commitment to commissioning and producing original work, much of which has toured nationally and internationally.
GIAF has produced or co-produced numerous acclaimed theatre productions and exhibitions that have toured the world. Its work has appeared on major international stages and at festivals in London, New York, Dublin, Edinburgh, Chicago, Washington, Perth, Adelaide, and Sydney, earning multiple awards including Best Production at The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards and Edinburgh Fringe First and Adelaide Fringe honours. A long-standing partnership with Landmark Productions has yielded internationally celebrated works by playwright Enda Walsh, among them Misterman, Ballyturk, Arlington, and Medicine, featuring acclaimed actors such as Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, Domhnall Gleeson, Charlie Murphy, and Olwen Fouéré.
A hallmark of GIAF’s creative vision was the commissioning of John Gerrard’s Mirror Pavilion during Galway’s year as European Capital of Culture 2020. Following its premiere in Galway, the work was exhibited at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea and the Sydney Biennale of Art, reflecting the Festival’s expanding international reach. Elsewhere in the visual arts, the Festival has commissioned new works by Hughie O’Donoghue, Patricia Piccinini, Sam Jinks, Ana Maria Pacheco, and David Mach, and presented exhibitions by artists including Joni Mitchell, Sophie Calle, Louise Bourgeois, David Hockney, Henri Matisse, and Marina Abramović amongst many others.
Over the years, GIAF has hosted many of the world’s most renowned performance companies, including Els Comediants, Royal de Luxe, the National Theatre of Great Britain, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Abbey - Ireland’s National Theatre, Druid, The Royal Court, Donmar Warehouse, Bristol Old Vic, Hofesh Shechter Company, and Irish National Opera, as well as visionary directors and writers such as Ivo van Hove, Garry Hynes, Cormac McCarthy, Yaël Farber, Michael Keegan-Dolan, and Emma Rice.
GIAF’s music programme has been equally distinguished, featuring an extraordinary range of artists from global icons to boundary-pushing innovators including Radiohead, Elvis Costello, The National, St. Vincent, Primal Scream, Philip Glass, Robert Plant, Brian Wilson, David Byrne, Blondie, Bon Iver, Nile Rodgers, Omara Portuondo, Cesária Évora, Burt Bacharach, Pixies, The Flaming Lips, Sinéad O’Connor, Yungchen Lhamo, Brad Mehldau, Kronos Quartet, Mavis Staples, Mari Samuelsen, Brodsky Quartet, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and Kneecap.
In 2012, GIAF introduced First Thought Talks, a curated series of interviews and conversations exploring creativity, innovation, and the challenges shaping our world. The series has since become a major part of the Festival, featuring presidents, activists, authors, journalists, entrepreneurs, artists, architects, politicians, and academics - a forum where ideas and imagination meet.
Today, Galway International Arts Festival continues to embody the collaboration, creativity, and excellence that defined its beginnings. It is both a producer and presenter of world-class art, a champion of new Irish work, and a forum for ideas that shape how we see the world. As it nears its fifth decade, the Festival stands as a beacon of creativity on the edge of Europe - a celebration of imagination that continues to inspire artists and audiences alike.
Galway International Arts Festival’s theatre productions and co-productions have received 15 national and international theatre awards from 39 Nominations for its work from 2011-2018. Two further Special Tribute Awards were received by Festival artists Stephen Rea and Olwen Fouéré in recognition of their wider body of work throughout their careers, with special mention of their recent Festival-produced work.
2014 - Edinburgh
riverrun
By James Joyce, adapted by Olwen Fouéré
TheEmergencyRoom and Galway International Arts Festival in association with Cusack Projects Ltd.
Awards
The Stage Award for Acting Excellence – Olwen Fouéré
Herald Arcangel Award – Olwen Fouéré
2011 - New York
Misterman
By Enda Walsh
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Award
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance - Cillian Murphy
The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2018
Grief is the Thing with Feathers
Adapted and directed by Enda Walsh and starring Cillian Murphy
The original production of Grief is the Thing with Feathers, produced by Complicité and Wayward Productions in association with Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival, had its world premiere in Galway and Dublin in March 2018. The show was co-produced with the Barbican, London, Cork Opera House, Edinburgh International Festival, Oxford Playhouse, St Ann’s Warehouse and Warwick Arts Centre.
Nominations
Best Production
Best Actor - Cillian Murphy
Best Director - Enda Walsh
Best Set - Jamie Vartan and Will Duke (video projection)
Best Sound - Teho Teardo and Helen Atkinson
The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2017
Woyzeck in Winter
Adapted and directed by Conall Morrison
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best Production
Best Actor - Patrick O'Kane
Best Supporting Actress - Rosaleen Linehan
Best Set Design - Jamie Vartan
Best Lighting Design - Ben Ormerod
Best Costume Design - Joan O'Clery
Awards
Best Actor - Patrick O'Kane
Best Supporting Actress - Rosaleen Linehan
The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2016
Arlington
By Enda Walsh
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best Designer: Set – Jamie Vartan
Best Sound Design – Helen Atkinson and Teho Teardo
Arlington is also nominated for the Audience Choice Theatre Award.
Award
Best Designer: Set – Jamie Vartan
The Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2015
Judges’ Special Award
Nomination
Galway International Arts Festival - For its consistently supportive role as co-producer of independent theatre.
The Match Box
By Frank McGuinness
Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best New Play – Frank McGuinness
Best Actress – Cathy Belton
Luck Just Kissed You Hello
By Amy Conroy
HotForTheatre and Galway International Arts Festival
Nomination
Best New Play – Amy Conroy
2014
Ballyturk
By Enda Walsh
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best Production
Best Director – Enda Walsh
Best Actor – Cillian Murphy
Best Designer: Set – Jamie Vartan
Best Designer: Lighting – Adam Silverman
Best Sound Design – Helen Atkinson and Teho Teardo
Awards
Best Production
Best Sound Design – Helen Atkinson and Teho Teardo
Stephen Rea received the Special Tribute Award in recognition of his continued commitment to the artform, his work with the Field Day Theatre Company, and his recent roles, particularly in Ballyturk.
2013
riverrun
By James Joyce, adapted by Olwen Fouéré
TheEmergencyRoom and Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best Actress – Olwen Fouéré
Best Design: Lighting – Stephen Dood
Best Design: Sound – Alma Kelliher
Award
Best Design: Sound – Alma Kelliher
Olwen Fouéré was awarded the Special Tribute Award for her extraordinary contribution to Irish theatre.
2012
The Great Goat Bubble
By Julian Gough
Fishamble: The New Play Company & Galway International Arts Festival
Nomination
Best Lighting Design – Nick McCaul
2011
Misterman
By Enda Walsh
Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival
Nominations
Best Production
Best Actor – Cillian Murphy
Best Designer: Lighting – Adam Silverman
Best Designer: Set – Jamie Vartan
Awards
Best Actor – Cillian Murphy
Best Set Design – Jamie Vartan
Galway International Arts Festival were also an associate on Druid Murphy, directed by Garry Hynes, which won 3 Irish Theatre Awards, including Best Production.
Druid Murphy
By Tom Murphy
Druid presents in a co-production with Galway Arts Festival, Quinnipiac University Connecticut, NUI Galway and Lincoln Center Festival
Nominations
Best Production
Best Actress – Eileen Walsh (Conversations on a Homecoming)
Best Actor – Marty Rea (A Whistle in the Dark)
Best Actor – Garrett Lombard (Conversations on a Homecoming)
Best Supporting Actress – Marie Mullen (Conversations on a Homecoming)
Best Supporting Actor – Gavin Drea (A Whistle in the Dark)
Best Supporting Actor - Aaron Monaghan (Conversations on a Homecoming)
Awards
Best Production
Best Supporting Actress – Marie Mullen (Conversations on a Homecoming)
Best Supporting Actor - Aaron Monaghan (Conversations on a Homecoming)
“The spirit of Galway International Arts Festival is all-inclusive, accessible and always open to suggestion. Contemporary festivals fall over themselves to state their commitment to both street and ‘high art’. The difference in Galway is, that ambition is realised.”
– The Observer
“The biggest, most exciting, most imaginative explosion of arts activity this country has.”
– The Irish Times
“A glorious kaleidoscopic fortnight of events.”
– The Irish Examiner
“Galway... one of the most significant arts festivals anywhere.”
– The Irish Independent
"One of Europe’s Top 20 Art and Culture Festivals in 2018."
– Flight Network
"One of the most spectacular arts festivals in the world."
- TravelZoo