The programme for the 22nd Galway Arts Festival programme has just landed, with a line-up that emphasises spectacle, accessibility, child-friendliness and free outdoor events all around the city, from July 10th25th.

The theatre strand blends the home-grown and the international: an outdoor show, Site, takes a satirical look at the property boom, and will be co-produced by the festival and Fir Clis - a new name for some familiar Galway faces: Paraic Breathnach, Jane Talbot and Owen McCarthaigh.

Other highlights include Theatre Talipot's mythical dance/ drama, The Water Carriers; Dance Theatre Of Ireland's new show, Soul Survivor; the UK's Cultural Industry with its brilliantly inventive Shockheaded Peter based on Hoffman's tales, and the Russian company, Derevo, who won a Fringe First at Edinburgh with their mime-based show, Once. Kristin Hersh and Chuck E. Weiss add glitz to the music programme, De Danaan celebrate their 25th anniversary, and American artist, Wayne Thiebaud, exhibits his San Franciscan cityscapes.

Additional funding this year from Millennium Festivals supports the Millennium Wild Weekend (July 17th and 18th), two days of open-air events with international theatre performers and street spectacle, culminating in the first night-time Macnas parade, Cargo de Nuit, followed by fireworks by France's Groupe F, who ignited the skies over the Barcelona Olympics. Programme information from: LoCall 1890 575655 or http:// www.galwayartsfestival.ie