Greetings from Under the Arch
Yet another week full of festivals!
Lasta Festival opens at the Town Hall Theatre on Tuesday, Something In The Water starts in Headford on Wednesday, and the Galway Cartoon Festival launches its tenth anniversary at the Mick Lally Theatre on Thursday.
There is live music alongside them, including Paahto And The Bull at Róisín Dubh and The Swedish Railway Orchestra's final album launch at The Blue Note (wonderfully quirky stuff).
This is our pick of what's on in Galway this week. As always for a full event list check out the link at the bottom of the email.
Let's dive in 👇
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK
Lasta Festival
Tuesday 29 September to Wednesday 7 October · Town Hall Theatre
Lasta is a national festival for young people by young people, now in its fifth year, and the Town Hall Theatre is one of seven regional venues. Natasha Nolan, Alison Dixon and Tara Finn curated this year's programme under cultural mentor Maisie Lee. It has five theatre productions, the film La Chimera and two exhibitions, from Shawna Flanagan and Asha Murray, along with workshops.
Something In The Water Arts Festival
Wednesday 30 September to Sunday 4 October · Various venues, Headford
Headford's community arts festival is in its fourth consecutive year, with music, theatre, literature, film, dance and visual art across the north Galway town. The programme includes a Beethoven bicentenary concert by the newly formed Kantos Quartet, a short film by IFTA winner Eamon Little, and an evening on Thursday 1 October with novelists Elizabeth Reapy, Alan McMonagle and Patrick Doherty. There are children's workshops too, and a weekend of Irish-language events.
Galway Cartoon Festival 10th Anniversary Launch
Thursday 1 October · 18:00 · Mick Lally Theatre
Speeches, announcements, cartoons and refreshments in the foyer of the Mick Lally Theatre on Druid Lane mark ten years of the festival. The festival itself runs from Thursday 1 to Tuesday 6 October.
Paahto And The Bull
Tuesday 29 September · 20:00 · Róisín Dubh
Patrick Cummins and John Francis Flynn have played together since 2011, including in the traditional group Skipper's Alley and the progressive project Once There Was A King. Their current project is all two-guitar arrangements, inspired by bluegrass flat-picking, and their debut album is due this year, after signing with Claddagh Records.
The Whileaways Album Launch
Tuesday 29 September · 20:00 · Town Hall Theatre
The Galway trio are launching their fifth album, When You Are Falling, with a seven-piece band. Hot Press described them as "among the finest singers in the country", and they hosted the theatre's 30th anniversary celebration in February 2026.
The Legend of Luke Kelly
Friday 2 October · 19:30 · Róisín Dubh
Chris Kavanagh's tribute to the Dubliners singer is built around Luke Kelly's songs and the sound of the five-string banjo. Kavanagh has toured the show for more than 15 years, in Ireland, England, Switzerland, Germany and Australia.
The Swedish Railway Orchestra album launch
Wednesday 7 October · 20:00 · The Blue Note
After a decade of "noise, drum machines, bad decisions and repeated offences against conventional song structure", the band is being retired. Its final release, Repetition Without Permission, gets a launch with DJs, and the event page warns of "inappropriate behaviour around the coffin".
Homesick
Thursday 1 October · 20:30 · Town Hall Studio
Jason emigrated to Perth three and a half weeks ago. He also returned home from Perth three and a half weeks ago, and is hiding in his childhood bedroom in Leitrim, unbeknownst to his family, while he fields their FaceTime calls and questions about the weather down under. Kyle Gerald Conlon performs this one-man show about grief and fear, written by Treasa Nealon and directed by Sonia Norris for The Rabbit's Riot Theatre Company. It is part of Lasta Festival.
The Fall of the Phoenix
Friday 2 October · 11:30 · Kennys Bookshop & Art Galleries
For over forty years the late Phoenix magazine was Ireland's main outlet for topical cartoons. This exhibition of favourite gags by its regular artists is part of the Galway Cartoon Festival.
All My Friends are in Australia
Friday 2 October · 20:30 · Town Hall Studio
"Trudy's stuck in Dublin. Her best friend is down under. She's not dead, she's just on a working visa." Legroom Collective's Lasta Festival show, by Lucy Bruton and Caoimhe O'Farrell, is an immersive, interactive hybrid of yoga, spin class, karaoke and nightclub about friendship, distance and the question of staying in Ireland or leaving.
La Chimera
Wednesday 7 October · 20:00 · Town Hall Theatre
Alice Rohrwacher's film is set in 1980s Tuscany, where Arthur (Josh O'Connor), an Englishman recently released from prison, has an almost supernatural sense for finding long-lost Etruscan artefacts. He falls in with a group of grave-robbers and embarks on a series of increasingly risky thefts. The film won the Silver Medallion at the 2023 Telluride Film Festival and is on the Lasta Festival programme.
Run Galway Bay 2026
Saturday 3 October · 08:30 · Nimmo's Pier
The marathon, half marathon and 10K all start at Nimmo's Pier in the Claddagh, at 08:30, 09:30 and 11:30. The course is flat.
For a full overview of all events on this week in Galway check out our event listings page
UNTIL NEXT WEEK
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