The name Macnas means "joyful abandonment". Following the success of Gulliver in 1988, Macnas reinforced its position as a force to be reckoned with in the arts in Ireland, with a succession of carnival-style parades for the Galway Arts Festival each summer.

Macnas has performed in more than 20 countries including Ireland, Britain, most of Europe, the United States and South America, both in its own right bringing shows, parades and celebrations and alongside U2 as part of the Zooropa 1993 world tour.

The development of Macnas's indoor theatre work has been no less successful. Its epic productions, Táin, Buile Shuibhne/Sweeny, Balor, Rhymes from the Ancient Mariner, Diamonds in the Soiland The Lost Days of Ollie Deasyhave attracted new audiences into theatre spaces with their combination of physical performance and stunning visuals. Macnas has twice won best production at the Dublin Theatre Festival, while Tom Conroy won an Irish Theatre Award in 1999 for best design for the Macnas/Galway Arts Festival co-production of Patrick McCabe's The Dead School.

In 1999 and 2000, Macnas performed at the St Patrick's Festival in Dublin, creating site-specific outdoor theatre shows based on The Odysseyin collaboration with Els Comediants. Macnas started the new Millennium with a bang by simultaneously performing in Times Square, New York, Merrion Square, Dublin and Eyre Square, Galway as part of each city's celebrations.