Although historians have deemed it ‘the city of tribes’, perhaps Galway is best known as the artistic and cultural hub of Ireland. Whether you’re walking the cobblestone streets of the Latin Quarter or watching ships dock in the harbour from your apartment balcony, every day in Galway feels like you’re living in a postcard.
If you ask any of my middle school art teachers, they’ll surely tell you that the beauty of art is lost on me. And frankly, I can’t say that I disagree. Art museums and symphony halls are two of the last places you’ll find me in my free time. In full transparency, I once bribed my mom to take notes at a rendition of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ for a class of mine because I couldn’t bare the thought of doing it myself. She didn’t take part, but you see my point.
In light of my (lack of) artistic background, it is still nearly impossible to not appreciate the beauty that Galway encompasses. Take a random stroll down Quay Street and you’re sure to find a compilation of musicians, tap dancers, magicians, and chalk artists. Pick any pub. Taaffes. The Front Door. An Púcán, and so on. You’ll wash down your Guinness to the sounds of local Gaelic songbirds on a nightly basis. What about those alleyways towards the outskirts of city-center? You won’t see much besides multi-story buildings plastered with murals of Irish folklore legends.
As October nears to an end, the artistic and cultural escapades in Galway are in full force. Fresh off of hosting the world’s oldest international oyster festival, the community has since welcomed the Vodafone Comedy Carnival to town. The weeklong experience is sure to add a unique niche of artistic expression otherwise absent in the day-to-day lives of the Galway locals. And yet, it is not to outshine the Macnas Halloween Parade (a must see event), the so-called “highlight of Ireland’s cultural calendar”, set for October 29th.
With so many great cultural festivals set in place, and many more to come throughout the year, I’m excited to continue to break out of my artistic shell and explore Galway for all it has to offer!
