City arts festivals are back on the island of Ireland

Taking place outdoors and indoors, in city and county, in English and Irish, and in-person and online, the Galway International Arts Festival will this year run from 28 August – 18 September in place of its usual slot in July.

This most magnificent festival on the Wild Atlantic Way promises immersive theatre, top-class music, stunning visual arts, thought-provoking talks outdoor installations and much more.

Visual arts highlights will include the much-anticipated second part of the mesmerising Mirror Pavilion, a beautiful and striking mirrored cube structure with one of its sides consisting of a hi-res LED wall. 

Created by Irish artist John Gerrard, it was originally commissioned for Galway 2020, European Capital of Culture. Over 120,000 people saw Corn Work, the first part of Mirror Pavilion, and now Leaf Work, a response to the escalating climate crisis and a reflection of the landscape of its spectacular location, will open Galway International Arts Festival when it premieres in Derrigimlagh Bog Connemara on 28 August. 

Big theatrical events to look forward to at the festival include Medicine, a devastatingly funny and profoundly moving new play from Enda Walsh, and a new production of Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days performed in the Irish language in the spectacular landscape of Inis Oírr, one of the three Aran Islands lying off the Galway coast.

In music, the festival partners with Ireland’s acclaimed musical event organisers Other Voices on a special live-streamed concert featuring NewDad, Anna Mullarkey, Tolü Makay, Susan O’Neill and Mick Flannery. The music programme will also feature performances by the Galway Ensemble in Residence Contempo, with special guest Finghin Collins.

The full extent and quality of the programme is available at the Galway International Arts Festival website, but remember there is no better time to explore the city’s mix of bohemian cool and traditional culture than at festival time.

Meanwhile in Belfast, live events and the feel-good festival vibe also make a welcome comeback from 2–12 September with the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Highly regarded for its socially inclusive agenda and eclectic programming, it blends big names, emerging acts and fringe performances in music, comedy, theatre, art and literature in the city’s buzzing arts quarter.

Look out for a beautiful open air show by Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan in Writer’s Square, and Scotland’s Christine Bovill who brings her hugely acclaimed ‘Piaf’ show to the Black Box. 

Comedians such as Andrew Maxwell, Kevin McAleer and Nabil Abdulrashid will bring much-needed laughter, while an hour of devilish arias, duets, and songs at lunchtime is available with The Devil Made Me Do It.  

For visual art, Hit the North on Sunday 5 September will see a socially distanced gathering of the world’s finest street artists at Union Street and Kent Street in the Cathedral Quarter. 

The event will feature 50 local, national and international artists with an array of styles and techniques. Onlookers will be able to watch their artwork develop throughout the day and grab some refreshments from the nearby Sunflower Bar.

For those who want to extend the festival experience, there is always much more to do amid the giant spirit of Belfast. 

Compact, culturally vibrant and hugely welcoming, the birthplace of the Titanic can tick every box – from city sights to party nights, city tours to excellent attractions, first-class food and music scenes, and much more.

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