Thousands of people are expected to line the streets of Galway this evening, for one of the main street theatre performances of the annual Arts Festival.
"Microcosmos" from the French company Planete Vapeur sees giant insects making their way through the heart of the city, for one of the centre pieces of the two week celebration of arts and culture in the west.
The show will run at 6pm and again at 9.30pm.
Watch: Thousands to attend Galway Arts Festival performance
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The 2025 festival has attracted visitors from far and wide, to watch a bumper programme across music, theatre, visual arts, dance, discussion and more.
Once again, organisers are employing every available space to showcase the best of local, national and international artistic endeavour.
Director Paul Fahy said the city's own creatives draw inspiration from seeing the range and breadth of work that is on offer.
He points to the Tactile Tunes project, at the University of Galway’s Aula Maxima, as a case in point.
It was developed with the support of the festival and focuses on the joy of making music, in a way that’s open to all ages and all abilities.
Jane Cassidy, who devised the project, explained that "we wanted to make musical instruments that are playable by everyone… you don't need to be able to read music or have done piano lessons, everything is super intuitive, multi sensory, really touchable and just fun and enjoyable".
Participants get the chance to explore a range of sonic palates, allowing them to compose and collaborate on their own individual tunes at the free event.
On the visual arts front, festival favourite David Mach is back with "Burning Down The House" a site specific installation in the former An Post sorting office, in the city centre.
The continued re-purposing by the festival of vacant commercial units, serves to highlight the long standing absence of dedicated, all-purpose exhibition space in the city.
But that approach to finding locations also gives a versatility to the festival. This year, as well as the traditional Big Top music venue, a second tented structure has been erected on the banks of the River Corrib.
It is part of the NoFit State company’s travelling show, Sabotage. Staged in a 700-seater tent, it features breath-taking acrobatics and performers dangling from their hair as they circle over the audience below.
The show’s Director, Firenza Guidi, said she was inspired to establish the company by a visit to the Arts Festival in the mid 1980s and that being back in Galway in 2025 feels like the wheel has come full circle.
"I entered a universe that changed my life when I attended a show here in 1987" she said.
"I decided there and then that this was the kind of theatre and performance that I wanted to do, so being back here now with this show feels amazing."
The festival continues until 27 July.
