Galway certainly does have a lot to offer as the 180,000 visitors to the 2014 Galway International Arts Festival discovered as they enjoyed a programme which boasted 213 events in 27 venues. It was a record breaking two weeks for the festival which drew to a close last Sunday. As well as a number of sell-out shows, the new gallery spaces proved very popular with audiences as did the street theatre programme, while the First Thought Talks achieved its largest audience to date.
Festival chief executive, John Crumlish commented: “This has been a fantastic year for the organisation and I would like to thank our audiences for making this year’s festival the biggest to date. People embraced this year’s programme and responded very positively to our new brand. The numbers visiting the city over the two weeks were exceptional and I would hope that this is reflected in the return to the city. On behalf of the festival I would like to thank everyone who supported us and in particular our funding agencies and sponsors who must share in this success.”
Festival highlights included RedBall Galway which captured the imagination of children and adults as it inhabited iconic locations throughout Galway city for seven days while street spectacle shows Dragonus and Hallali drew huge crowds to experience breathtaking performances. Huge hits with theatre audiences included performances of a Beckett Trilogy, the stage adaptation of the Joseph O’Connor book Star of the Sea, Ballyturk, Chapatti, iD, and the family show Bláth.
The continued development of the First Thought Talks focusing on wellbeing and creativity were sellout events over two days. Music highlights included high-energy performance from The National along with sell-out performances from the The Coronas, Imelda May and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra’s sublime performance closing the Festival Big Top for 2014. Intimate shows from Owen Pallett, Samantha Crain, Cathey Davey, Sarah Jarosz and Cass McCombs were also well received.
The Absolut Visual Arts Programme and Gallery was visited by thousands of people throughout the two weeks with Janet Cardiff’s sound installation The Forty Part Motet in the beautiful setting of the Aula Maxima at NUI Galway, and the transformation of an Absolut Festival Gallery in the former Connacht Tribune former print works building attracting large crowds daily.
