On the Town: It was time to party when "the sailing plains" of Galway came into view. For a while, the Sin É venue on Dublin's Upper Ormond Quay felt like that westerly place that is known in Galway as Maigh Seola.
The Galway Arts Festival carnival had come to town to herald the approach of the two-week extravaganza of art, fun and culture. Friends came and settled in for a night of celebration and preparation. It was time to launch the festival programme.
The notes flew up as musicians Arty McGlynn on guitar, Tommy Keane on uilleann pipes, Nollaig Casey on fiddle and Jacqueline McCarthy on concertina, played for us all. Galway woman Bríd Dooley, who is a singer with the group called Maigh Seola (which means "the sailing plains"), said her singing "is a labour of love". The group will play in Galway's Róisín Dubh during the festival next month.
Actor Mark O'Regan came to greet the Galwegian crew. He'll be flexing his vocal chords in Ghost Show, when he sings with Susannah de Wrixon at the festival this year.
Writer and performer Mark Doherty will have his new play, Trad, featuring Peter Gowan, Frankie McCafferty and David Pearse, staged at the festival.
Festival manager John Crumlish was delighted that the former lead singer with Talking Heads, David Byrne, was coming to perform in Galway. "He was on our wish-list," Crumlish said.
The Compagnie du Hanneton's production of La Veillée des Abysses is another one to look out for. Last year, the same French company staged one of the festival's most successful shows, The Junebug Symphony.
Two Chinese cultural institutions are also coming to perform at the festival, according to Donal Shiels, manager of the China Ireland Cultural Exhange, who recently returned from Beijing. The Beijing Dance Academy and the China Conservatory of Music are both "quite spectacular and something that you just wouldn't see".
For more information about the festival, which will run from Monday, July 12th to Sunday, July 25th, check out its website at www.galwayartsfestival.ie