12 months of creative craic
We say: “A year of extraordinary creativity and disruption” – that’s how the west-coast Irish city bills its tenure as European Capital of Culture in 2020. Galway is pretty artsy any time, its (many) pubs overspilling with live music, its streets jolly with buskers, its hefty student population lending a lively vibe.
But come 2020, the ante will be upped, with a full programme – focused on the themes of language, landscape and migration – structured around the old Celtic calendar: Imbolc (budding season, February to April), Bealtaine (summer, May to July), Lughnasa (harvest, August to October) and Samhain (winter, November to January).
There will be 1,900 events in total, with highlights including giant light installations splashed across heaths and bogs; a version of Homer’s Odyssey touring the beaches; an International Women’s Day event attended by Margaret Atwood; the Cúirt International Festival and its celebration of Irish and European literature; country, blues, gospel, folk and bluegrass concerts; Project Baa Baa (a paean to sheep); and no fewer than 30 projects celebrating the Irish language.