galway arts festival 2008

Monday July 14th to Sunday, July 27th, 2008

Founded in 1978 by a group of students and young professionals, Galway Arts Festival aimed to bring a wide variety of international artists to Galway while, at the same time, showcasing the best of Irish talent. Over the years, the festival has been spectacularly successful in both instances.
Since then the number of professional arts organisations, the level of public funding and the extent of infrastructure support for the arts in the city have gradually and steadily increased. The low levels of awareness and participation in the arts that characterised the city's population back in 1978 when Galway Arts Festival was founded have greatly improved.
The festival since then has given a significant boost to artistic life, community life and the local economy. Through its activities the festival has succeeded in making Galway synonymous with the arts so that citizens of Galway see art and the arts as part of their lives.