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If you’re visiting the City of the Tribes this summer, be sure to check out Galway Film Fleadh 2019!
No excuse is ever needed to take a break on the Wild Atlantic Way, but it’s particularly alluring in summer time when there’s sun on your skin, salty wind in your hair and the prospect of a perfect pint and a plate of the freshest seafood to crown your day.
Galway city is a must-visit destination all-year round, but if it’s been a while since you were last in the City of the Tribes, why not take a break in the west and check out one of its great festivals while you’re at it?
And there’s one festival, in particular, that should be on the radar of film fans everywhere — the Galway Film Fleadh. It’s been part of the summer calendar since the first one, way back in 1989, and it gets bigger and better with each passing year.
This year, it takes place from 9 — 14 July, and there’s a long selection of carefully curated films that you can enjoy before they get their official cinema or DVD release.
Get booking now for the Irish premiers of indie movies and documentaries, both Irish-made and from all corners of the globe. There’s a preference for really good cinema that might struggle to get a look-in in the blockbuster-heavy schedule at your local multiplex.
Galway Film Fleadh schedule
This year’s programme is as richly diverse as ever and fulfils the Fleadh’s laudable pledge “to be a platform for the boldest new films and to bring audiences and filmmakers from around the world together to share in the wonder of cinema”. Sounds good to us.
There are several eye-catching documentaries too, including Jihad Jane — a new feature-length film from Irish director Ciaran Cassidy. It’s a sobering look at the jittery post-9/11 world we live in today and is centred on the bizarre story of Colleen Renee LaRose.
Then there’s Never Grow Old, which is being hailed as a “terrific, old-fashioned western”, but with a twist. Starring John Cusack and Emile Hirsch, it’s set in the American Wild West but was shot in Connemara by homegrown filmmaker Ivan Kavanagh. It’s the closing film of the Fleadh.
And if you’re heading towards the Wild Atlantic Way near the end of the Galway Film Fleadh, you should check out the packed programmed for the Galway International Arts Festival, which gets under way straight after, on 15 July. Think two weeks of the best in theatre and music.
Planning your trip to Galway
But no matter when you go to Galway, there’s so much to experience. The ever-lively Quay Street is a brilliant place to savour some of the city’s greatest pubs and, elsewhere, there’s a dizzying number of exceptional restaurants in this town, including the award-wining Aniar and Loam — you’ll have to book ahead for those.
No trip to Galway city is complete without some time spent in nearby Salthill. A stroll along its famous promenade is never less than invigorating and there’s an opportunity to partake in great watersports activities here, including kayaking.
Base yourself in the Meyrick Hotel near Eyre Square in the city — one of the Galway’s most celebrated long-running hotels — while the Menlo Park Hotel boasts all the modern comforts you could need.
Further afield, a drive out to the pretty fishing village of Clarinbridge will bring you through some of Connacht’s most scenic vistas — and you’ll have to try the oysters that have made the place legendary all over Ireland.
Visiting the Aran Islands is one of the great pleasures of the Wild Atlantic Way. The boat ride out is a joy in its own right and there’s a bewitching aspect to Inis Mór that will make you want to return time and again. Overnight at the Aran Islands Hotel so you can relax and drink in those amazing ocean views that get better every time you see them.
Even though it’s just 25 minutes outside the city centre, Brigit’s Garden will make you feel like you’re in a totally different world. With a café on-site serving nothing but the best, the award-winning gardens house everything from an ancient ring fort to a thatched roundhouse and the largest sundial in Ireland.
Your wanderings in this singular landscape is bound to make you hungry: sate that appetite with a meal fit for a king in Mitchell’s restaurant, Clifden, and enjoy a night out of the ordinary at the nearby Abbeyglen Castle Hotel.
A festival makes your break, so head to Discover Ireland to discover even more options to make your break in Ireland something magical.
Brought to you by Discover Ireland
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