ENERGY OF a very different kind envelopes Galway over the coming week, following last night’s final arts festival performances.
Tourism interests and organisers of the Ballybrit race festival are talking up figures of about €60 million in predicted spin-off, as the summer meet opens this evening.
Race cards sold out within half an hour of the opening last year, and racecourse manager John Moloney is predicting attendance figures will be “on a par”.
However, most punters are expected to keep their feet on the ground, with some 70 air-taxi landings expected for the week.
Galway Arts Festival has had one of the most successful runs in its 34-year history. “Audience figures increased by over 30 per cent on last year, making for an extremely busy few weeks in Galway,” artistic director Paul Fahy said.
Mr Fahy said it was incorrect to state, as had been reported in this newspaper, that the festival had turned down one of two applications made by the Galway Youth Theatre (GYT) – that was then commissioned for the alternative theatre event. Mr Fahy said that the first notification he received this year from GYT was on April 21st, through Galway Arts Centre director Páraic Breathnach, and this was three months after the closing date of submissions of January 31st.
Mr Breathnach said this was correct, but he had always understood there was a “partnership” between the festival and arts centre, given that it also provided venues.