Entries Tagged as 'galway arts festival'

Mark Thomas- a bigger man than his technical difficulties!

Mark Thomas

Charlie and I went along to see Mark Thomas in the Radisson Hotel last night as part of the Galway Arts Festival. Charlie is reviewing the show for the Connacht Tribune and I did the above to go along with it.
There were some teething problems, and a lesser man would have skinned the sound and light operators alive for a) not turning the stage lighting on when he entered and even then having to be told to do it and b) the feedback and distortion on his mike in the first half. Thomas just made a joke of it, comparing them to the people in charge of our water supply! (although I’d trust a hill of ants to do a better job of our water situation than the officials of City Hall at this stage).

In my unbiased, objective, balanced and scientific opinion Mark Thomas is a genius. So there.

Mark Thomas for the Galway Arts Festival

Mark Thomas

One of my favourite outraged sorts, Mark Thomas, is coming to Galway for the 30th Galway Arts Festival. I’m currently reading his book As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela, an actual quote used as a selling point in an arms dealer’s brochure.

I guarantee the funniest indignation you’ll see this year if you come along. You can see some of his television work on YouTube, but be warned it’s not safe for work (lots of cussin’!!).

The Festival box office is open now and you can book tickets online.

It’s on, it’s off… it’s on again!

Macnas ParadeUpdate to previous post: It appears that the Macnas Parade has been saved. Galway City Council have pledged an emergency fund for the Galway Arts Festival, who had a major sponsor pull out earlier this year. Part of this fund is going into a budget for the Parade, so it looks like the single biggest free gig of the Festival. I think the Council are to be applauded for this, but there is a caveat: this money is a crutch, and if Macnas’ funding is not increased by the Arts Council, and supplemented by Dept. of Tourism, regional development bodies and local businesses the parade will lurch towards extinction in the next 2-3 years. This isn’t a prediction I’d like to see come about.

As for this year, I can’t wait to see the spectacular work of Aine, Peter, the rest of the team and the hundreds of volunteers that give the parade life every year!