Conference tallis::celt

    I was in Galway at the time of the Arts Festival last year, more by
    chance really.  I'm not into the Arts scene much myself but I took
    the opportunity to see comedian Sean Hughes.  IT was an excellent night
    although the wind nearly blew the big top/marquee away.  I can't
    remember what price the tickets were but I do remember it was value for
    money.
    
    Events are held in various locations around the City, but the main
    arena last year was a big top/marquee in Fisheries Fields next to the
    Cathedral.  I don't know if the plans are the same again this year.
    
    My cousin works in the Arts Centre in Galway.  If you like I can get
    him to send me all the details for this year and I can forward them on
    to you.  Alternatively you can write directly to the Arts Centre at 47
    Dominic Street  Galway.  I am sure a Galway resident will provide you
    with more detailed information, especially regarding the influx of
    "Crusties" for the festival - many from England !!!
    
    Good Luck & enjoy yourself
    
    		Brian.

    Really,
    
    How can you expect arts in the city of the barbarian tribes. Its an
    Oxymoron.
    
    For arts you need to go to a civilized part of the country
    MBr

    
    What goes on at the Arts festival ....... well unless it changed;
    
    Drinking,  Drinking and more Drinking ....... plus some entertainment.
    

    
    How 'walkable' a city is Galway (assuming that you haven't had too many
    pints!)  ?     You know....how long does it take to walk across the
    city centre.....or is it so far that you must take cabs?
    
    /jen
    

    Galway city centre is very walkable.   Galway centre is small, if you
    were to compare it with American/English city centres.  
    
    
    
    Bernie

    As regards the Galway Arts festival, it is like Brian descriped in
    1164.1, with various events taking place in different locations, most
    of which you would need to have booked for.   It usually takes place
    sometime in July and it is advisable to have accomodation booked,
    as Galway is very busy at this time of the year.
    
    
    Bernie
    
    
    
    

    re: .4
    
    It takes about two days to walk across Galway City......
    
    
    Considering you have to stop in every pub along the way....
    
    G

    
    
    And that's just the left side of the street !!!!!		:-)
    
    
    
    
    

    **    And that's just the left side of the street !!!!!           :-)
    
      	 Did the left side of Eyre Sq. on the 23rd Dec.
    	Took two days to get over it though!
     An Pucan Bar, Garveys, O'Connells, back to Garvey's, Hogans....
     It all started at The Huntsman. 

    I see you finished at Hogans - a late one I take it ???  Nothing
    changes there, my cousin - who runs the place - always did like a wee
    drink.......or two.  I'm surprised you didn't get escorted to the
    Bentley after that !!!!
    
    		Brian

    
    
    re: .9
    
    
    An Pucan Bar	
    
    One of my favorites .... :-)
    
    I've had several jars in there with some of the DEC lads from Ballybrit !!
    
    
    
    	keVin
    

KeVin,

Was that the quart bottle with a woodpecker on the front of it.

Several of the previous bars are not in the square. Someone must have been giving
you folks kango juice.

MBr

    
    
    The Puc�n is in the square ... out the road a few doors across from
    the train station, heading back towards Renmore.
    
    If NEVER had Cider in my life.
    
    I'm hoping that Paddy Culbert will have some "Holy Water" for me when
    he returns from Ireland in March ....  (Hint Hint)
    
    
    keVin
    
    

    
    >Holy water when he comes back!
    
    
    ..its holy water he will need before he arrives....and when he is here
    -) -)....Don't worry his soul will be in good hands..
    
    Mick

    
    
    I hope YOUR not driving ............   :-)
    
    
    
    keVin
    

    
    
    ..maybe a wee spin up the (through the) mountains.
    
    No we have a few pushbikes ready
    
    
    Mick

    
    tsk tsk tsk....
    
    Back to Galway lads!
    
    Are there any shops of particular note?
    
    /jen
    

    
    
    
    
    		S U P E R M A C S 

    
    Care to elaborabe a bit on this Mr. Burns?    What type of store is
    this?
    
    /jen
    

    
    
    Bingo !!!

    
>HILL16::BURNS "Will 93' be another BANNER year"        
    
>    		S U P E R M A C S 

	a great way to end the night.  A Galway fast food place that's packed
	at 3am...  Best chips in town!

Gary

    ******Are there any shops of particular note?
    
    	Kenny's on High Street, books and art their specialty.
       Great place to browse!

    
    
    .22 Now we know who broke Sean Neachtains window  %^)
    
    Sharon Shannon played there recently. She joined in with the resident
    musos. Shame I missed it.
    
    Des

    re .21
    
    Supermacs is no where near as good as Buck Rogers, well the burgers
    anyway, and only feet from Hogans door.
    
    		Brian

    ****.22 Now we know who broke Sean Neachtains window  %^)
    
    Never, would I desecrate such a place! It was there that I had
    my first pint of Guinness...and my second......

    I notice that the replies to this note have dried up since the
    announcement to close GAO has been made. Understandable enough, but
    after the pregnant silence life must go on. Now more than ever I think
    Galway would appreciate as many visitors as possible to all it's
    Festivals: Art's Festival (End of July), Race Week (Start of August),
    Oyster festival (Some Weekend in September + numerous others. Anyway
    all Summer is one long Shendig in Galway (Although hopefully not
    dampened this year by recent events). 
    
    I'll summarize the 3 Festivals mentioned in an attempt to make people
    take Holidays/Vacation in the Galway Area this year (and probably every
    year thereafter):
    
    Art's Festival: Probably the Best in these Isles, this is not the type
    of Arts Festival that caters to Snobs who look at Smudges of Paints on
    Canvas and claim to extract the meaning of life from them (which we all
    know is 42 anyway). The Festival organisers do all they can to involve
    as many "Man (Person to be PC) in the Street"'s as possible. Sources of
    Info can be got elsewhere in this note. 
    
    Race Week: Follows closely on Art's week. Think of it as the week when
    all the people who went to all those Art type functions prove they're
    really muck-savages after all. Spend the week having the occasional
    (Ha-Ha) flutter on the horses and then getting totally sh**-faced in
    the best possible taste on the winnings (or losings).
    
    Oyster Festival: The Best fun possible in your clothes unless your an
    Oyster. This is a (long) weekend festival and is just one incredible
    blowout of Guinness and Oysters. If you make it to the Oyster Breakfast
    on Sunday morning (Starts at 12 noon, finishes at approx 7pm; last year
    3000 oysters and a similar amount of pints were consumed at it) you'll
    deserve a medal and a new liver. But for craic you won't beat it!
    
    Anyway make sure you all get to spend at least one week in Galway this
    Summer. Even if there are'nt any specific events on there are always
    the spontaneous ones, which are often the most memorable.
    
    Here some of my favourite Pubs (all within 10min (Max) walking distance
    of each other) I'll start at one end of town and work back:
    
    	Taylor's	Dominick St
    	The Crane	The Crane (off Dominick St)
    	The WaterFront	Off Dominick St
    	Myles Lee's	Cross St
    	Freeney's	Quay St
    	Sean Neachtain's Quay St (Apologies on spelling, How do I do a fada?)
	Harbour Bar	Off the Docks. Early Morning place circa 7.00am
    			not for the faint hearted although since Dolores
    			took over they don't seem to open as early any more :-( 
    	Hughes's	WoodQuay
    	McSwiggan's	WoodQuay
    	Hole in the Wall WoodQuay (Stevie J would be upset if I left him out)
    	O'Connell's	Eyre Sq.
    	Hogan's		Prospect Hill
    
    I'm sure there are others who will berate me for omitting their
    favourites, but that's the joy of Noting.
    
    Anyway hope to see y'all here next Summer.
    G'Luck,
    Joe.

    
    Joe!
    
    What perfect timing!   I just booked my airline tickets!  I'll be in
    Galway for part of the Arts Festival and Race week..........and I
    can't wait!  :)
    
    /Jen

    Jen!
    
    Excellent news... now only 240 Million odd -1 other Americans to
    convince. So to try I'll add some comments that a Dutch friend of mine
    made when I met him in Ireland during a visit. For some background I
    used to live on the Netherlands in the '86 time frame and this guy used
    to own my local pub. It was a small place with him and one other
    barman, but the craic was good. He had about 10 Irish regulars with a
    fairly wide geographical spread and each one told him that if he ever
    made it to Ireland he HAD to visit their part of the country and see
    this that or the other, typical Irish rameis when they're abroad.
    Anyway he eventually made a list and said if he ever made it he'd go
    to as many of the places as possible. I returned home in '87 and Dave
    (the Dutchman) finally made it over in 1990. When I met him he'd been
    around the country for a week with his girlfriend. He'd been blown
    away. He said that the descriptions for the places he'd been to from
    the guys in the bar, did not do any of the places justice and Dave been
    a hard drinking Dutchman (who refrains from the ridiculous Dutch habit
    of singing ridiculous songs when he's drinking) had a ball of a time in
    the Pubs. Note here that he said he met another Dutchman the day he
    arrived who told him Irish pubs were overrated. That night they went to
    a place in Cashel, the name of which escapes me and Dave discovered
    that your man was a sit in the corner and drink glasheens type of
    tourist (Aaarrrggghhh). So Dave took him aside and poured a lot of
    sense into him, got talking to the locals and they had a whale of a
    time. So the moral of the story is, don't expect the locals to be
    friendly if you're huddled in a corner waiting for the drink to
    evaporate.
    
    Anyway to cut a long story short, Dave and his Girlfriend came back the
    following year on their Honeymoon!! and they're coming over again this
    year for another week of it. Need I say more, so everybody get your
    asses over here for the Summer.
    
    See y'all later,
    Joe.

    
    Watch out world!  I fly out tomorrow and hit Galway on July
    23rd...saints preserve ye all!
    
    /jen
    

    
    Hi!
    
    Well here I am in GAO waiting for the Races to begin. :)   Today is
    the day sponsored by DEC.   
    
    
    And....it isn't raining....
    
    /jen
    

    
    Jen: In the 5th race place �5 on number 6 to win.
    
    
    
    
    keVin
    

    
    Rumour has it that:
    
    	Galway is great
    	The weather, however, was a different story
    	The atmosphere was great
    	Liam and company were exceptionally wonderful!
    
    	And a certain CELT moderator was tormented in Galway while jet
        lagged.   Poor thing.  It seems he was harassed as a suspected 
        smuggler of golf clubs!    Good thing the customs guy didn't find
        the 20 Jurassic Park T-shirts!   :*)
    
    
    	/jen

    	 If anyone has info on this years Arts Festival, ie; featured
    	artists, venues, ticket information, would ye please share it.
    	 Gotta book early, don't ya know. ;^) 
    
    	Bob

      There are no details available as yet on the Arts Fest, which is on from
      13th to 24th July.

      Told by Arts Fest office that any info will not be available until
       early June.

      Soon as any info comes to hand I'll post it.

      

       Des.    

    
    	 Thanks Des. Had a great time at last years festival. I'm
    	sure this year will be just as much fun.
    
    	rgds,
    	Bob
    

    Galway Arts Festival is on between July 12th and 24th this year.
    These are some of the highlights as the official programme is not yet
    ready and dates cannot be confirmed..
    
    The emphesis this year is on street theatre. Among the highlights on 
    the streets are: 
    The Macnas parade on 17th JULY. This year it is called TRIBES.
    This also happens to be World Cup Final day... so if we make it to the
    final and if you you happen to be in Galway .. hang on to your hats!!
    
    Other street highlights: 
    Carnival of Clowns from Portugal.
    Les Pietons (the Passangers) from Paris..France.
    Les Freres Topolino (The Topolino Brothers) also from Paris.
    
    Theatre highlights:
    
    "Cirque Gosh" from Berlin
    From Cuba comes Buendia who will perform a show called Innocent
    Erendira.You should brush up on your Spanish for this one!
    From New York (so good we play there twice) Penny Arcade presents
    Bitch! Dyke! Fagbag! Whore!  A night out for all the family..NOT!!
    Local heroes Druid presents "Silverlands"
    plus offerings from Punchbag..Flying Pigs ..etc..  
    
    Readings by John Pilger, whose hard hitting investigative writings
    have helped expose some of the nastier aspects of the international
    political scene. And Martin Bell BBC Correspondent extraordinaire who 
    was recently wounded by shrapnel whilst covering the war in Bosnia.
    
    Comedy :
    Anorak on Fire or the Life and times of Gus Gascoigne, Train Spotter.
    Tonight I'm Entertaining Richard Gere by Cecilia Delatori.
    And the Funny Bone Comedy Club (Galway's finest) will host a number of 
    stand up comedians including Jo Brand, I believe.
    
    Music. 
    Michael Nyman, composer of "The Piano" score which won an Acadamy
    Award, will make an appearance . Hopefully he will perform music from 
    the Peter Greenaway films which he also scored.
    Terence Simien & the Mallet Playboys from Louisiana for all you Zydeco
    lovers.
    Jools Holland and his big band.
    Leon Redbone, brilliant blues man. A must!
    The Cactus Brothers from Nashville, I believe.
    
    Also the Film Fleadh runs from 13th to 18th july. Special guest this
    year is Robert Mitchum........
    
    And there is the Children's Arts Festival...... 
    
    All this and the World Cup too..........
    
    
    
    
    
    regards
    
    Des.
     
    

    
    	 Thanks for the update Des. Leon Redbone will be a 'must see'.
    	Should be a great two weeks. 
    	 If you see any advance ticket info, would you post it here? 
    
    	cheers,
    	Bob

 Hello Bob,

 The Arts Festival box office usually opens 1st July or thereabouts.
  As soon as dates and ticket costs are available I'll let you know.

 Yeah, Leon Redbone continues the festival tradition of quality
 Blues performers. Last year John Hammond, Otis Clay and "Ice Man" Collins
 shared the bill. Previous year The New Orleans Revue featured Dr. John, 
 Johnny Adams, Willie De Ville and others. Now that was a great show!

  regards

  Des

    	 Well,
    	 As a follow-up to the helpful info greatfully recieved in
    	this conference I should write a few lines on our spectacular
    	two weeks in Galway.
    
    	 I find Galway to be quite lively any time of the year but the
    	Arts Festival can only be described as being positively electric!
    	 We arrived on monday the 11th and made straight for the ticket
    	office at the Corn Store first thing tuesday morning. There was 
    	no problem getting tickets for every show we wanted to see.
    	 Highlights were;
    	Jools Holland, Brian Kennedy, Leon Redbone, Frances Black, Martin
    	Hayes, Jordi Bertran, Little John, Liam Og O'Flynn, Martin O'Connor
    	and the Macnas Parade was brilliant.
    	 My two sons, ages 12 and 9, enjoyed every minute of it as well.
    	Plenty of childrens theatre and workshops to keep them occupied,
    	and for those readers who may be concerned about bringing young
    	kids to Galway, worry not. They are welcome anywhere in the city
    	including the pubs.
    	 Managed to catch up with some of our friends in Galway but missed
    	others. All the more reason to get back there next summer. ;^)
    	Already making the plans. 
    
    	 Thanks Des, for keeping me posted on the events programme.
    
    	Bob

 Here is some info on this year's Arts Fest for those planning to visit Hangover 
 City  in July.

 It happens between 19th and 30th July (the Races start on Mon 31st).
 Nothing official has been announced as yet but it is almost certain that
 the following will appear:
  Spalding Grey (his 1 man show a few years ago was a highlight)
  Ian Dury and the Blockheads
  Guy Clark
  Japanese drummers and South African theatre group (whose names escape me)
  and Warren Zeavon is a possible(what a prospect!)
  An extended children's festival and film fleadh


  More info as it comes off the presses

   Des.