The CRAIC on
Saturday 19th July 2014
Finding Green Fingers... By Avril HORAN
• 10am: A one day actors workshop takes place at the Jesuit Hall on Sea Road looking at the Michael Chekhov technique with Paul Brennan from the Gaiety School of Acting. • 10am: The National Aquathalon Championships take place in Salthill today.
• 12pm: Catch the Nutan Photograph Exhibition at the Dominican Hall, The Claddagh, for fringe. • 3pm: ALâ presents Divide and Conquer about fracking at the Galway Fringe main stage at the Victoria hotel. • 7pm: The Galway Community Circus presents Stories from Circopolis and guests at St Joseph’s Community Centre, Ashe Road for fringe. • 7pm: Galway Kavanagh Day takes place at the Harbour Hotel organised by the Patrick Kavanagh Western Assoc. for a lively and dramatic tribute in honour of the great bard. • 8pm: The Galway Fringe Fiddle Festival takes place on the main stage at the Victoria Hotel, Victoria Place with 7 great players from across Ireland. • 10pm: Energetic 5-piece Folk Pop band, The Daily Howl, will play at the backstage bar in Monroe’s Live. • Midnight: The band with the best name, The Hardcore Priest of Yemen, will take to the Galway Fringe main stage at the Victoria Hotel.
I
don’t have green fingers. In fact, I have often described myself as the killer of any known living plant. It’s just one of those things I have accepted about myself. That, and my amazing ability to get lost anywhere, thanks to having no sense of direction.
and the Gombeens certainly know how to clown about. The melodic barbershop sounds of the Galway Baytones would pop up every now and again on the winding stairs located within the stone buildings, while the jazz tunes spilled out across the lawn with local band Strictly Dixie.
The latter aside, I ventured out to the Claregalway Garden Festival over the weekend of July 5th, driven by a curiosity about its stunning surrounds of Claregalway Castle. It really was a fantastic event. There were plenty of stalls, with plants, but more than enough to keep the non-green fingered souls entertained.
All this, and I was only there for around an hour or so. There had also been plenty of talks for the enthused gardeners, while others simply sipped wine, or enjoyed cheese and oysters, outside a pop up Sheridans. If you fancied a read, there was also a pop up Kenny’s bookshop on site.
I was enthralled by the sounds of the army band of the 2nd command. We sat around the bandstand – it was actually a small marquee – and listened as they entertained with popular hits and theme songs, from the Pink Panther to the Simpsons. Of course being Galway, a concert isn’t a concert without someone in a brightly coloured costume riding around through the crowd on a handmade hobby horse,
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And there was plenty more than an ice cream van for the young wans, as they could enjoy Guido Fanzini’s Impossible Circus. Sure you would never want to leave. The Irish weather held firm, despite sparks of our ‘four seasons in one day’ climate. The event supported the Galway Simon Community and CBM charities. So there you have it. You can take a known plant killer to a gardening festival and she will be reluctant to go home. With so much food and festivities, it would have been worth camping out there. It’s one to watch next year. in GALWAY
• 11am: A workshop, Galway Goes to the Pictures, takes place at the Galway City Museum exploring the earliest form of animated film; Age 5-12.