Date added : May 15, 2008
Author :

Galway Arts Festival 2008 is set to be the ultimate summer getaway, with a line up that promises to beat the best of the rest. Galway Arts Festival will up the festival fun factor with the addition of a spanking new circus-style Big Top. Festival goers can roll on up and rock on down to a host of great artists and musicians performing during Ireland's leading International Arts Festival. The Festival has just released details of some of the acts scheduled to perform at the Festival Big Top in Galway this summer. Further acts will be announced later.
Pitched minutes from city centre on the banks of the River Corrib, the Festival Big Top will take prime position at the Fisheries Field - the perfect lounge location for summer evenings. Galway Arts Festival Big Top hosts a sparkling eclectic line-up that's bound to attract the Festival chic.

The opening show of the Festival Big Top comes from Australia's amazing Circa with the European premiere of their acclaimed new show by the light of the stars which are no longer...on Monday July 14th. Having wowed audiences during GAF 2007 with the superb The Space Between their new show combines Circa's physical virtuosity with a haunting soundtrack featuring works by MUM, Sigor Ros, DJ Shadow and Leonard Cohen, and a startling and spectacular use of projected light. Suitable for audiences of all ages by the light of stars that are no longer... is a hauntingly beautiful work suffused with longing and wonder. Simply not to be missed. The show runs from July 14th-20th.

The Festival spirit headlines with the legendary New York City icons Blondie. Having sold over 40 million records and fronted by the iconic Debbie Harry, this Festival appearance comes on the heels of the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough album Parallel Lines. The classic album spawned the singles Hanging On The Telephone, One Way Or Another, Heart Of Glass, and Sunday Girl and catapulted the New York act to global stardom. Blondie perform at the Festival Big Top on Thursday July 24th.

In the first of two very exciting double bills Tom Baxter and KT Tunstall perform live at the Festival Big Top on Wednesday July 23rd. Baxter is no stranger to Galway Arts Festival and is a huge hit with Festival audiences. His album Skybound, released to critical acclaim in the UK earlier this year was number one in Ireland for three weeks and became one of the best selling albums over the past 12 months. His live shows are simply electric. KT Tunstall has become a major world-wide star over the last two years with hits such as Suddenly I See and Black Horse and the Cherry Tree. Tunstall has gone on to win three Brit Awards and two Grammy nominations and has become a huge star on both sides of the Atlantic following the release of her debut album Eye to the Telescope and the more recent world-wide hit album Drastic Fantastic.
The second double-bill features, The Dandy Warhols and Ash live at the Festival Big Top on Friday July 25th. The Dandy Warhols first came to international fame with their hit single Bohemian Like You and have been slyly dubbed "the best British band to come out of America", but the quartet of Oregonians put forth an intense and complexly psychedelic sound. Their live performances are stuff of legend. Northern Irish rock group Ash have enjoyed both mainstream and critical success in their 15 year history. They boast two number one hits and numerous others including Burn Baby Burn, Shining Light, Girl From Mars, Oh Yeah and A Life Less Ordinary. A Life Less Ordinary was chosen as the theme song to the Hollywood movie of the same name starring Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz. Tim, Mark and Rick burst back on the music scene after a long-awaited return to the live circuit last year. Now based in New York they continue to work on their plan for world domination Ash have proved themselves a must-see live act.

Cuban diva Omara Portundo became a global superstar following her show stealing performance in Wim Wender's film The Buena Vista Social Club. Dubbed Cuba's very own Edith Piaf, Omara Portuondo has been thrilling audiences in the cabarets and night spots of Havana with the passionate and moving honesty of her voice for more than half a century. In the 1940s and '50s, she was the velvet voice of the jazz/bossa nova inspired genre known as filin. She has long been Cuba's favourite musical sweetheart and her Galway performance in the Festival Big Top on Sunday July 20th coincides with the release of her long-awaited new album.

Tickets for these shows go on sale on this website on Friday May 16th at 10.30am. Further acts will be announced shortly.

Buy online at www.galwayartsfestival.com (from Friday 16th May) or www.ticketmaster.ie (from Monday 19th May) and usual outlets nationwide.

For Credit Card bookings call Central Ticket Bureau (CTB) at 0818 205 205 (Monday to Saturday 10.30 am to 5.30 pm) or Ticketmaster at 0818 719 300.

Circa tickets only available on www.galwayartsfestival.com and through CTB.

The complete 2008 Galway Arts Festival programme will be announced on June 4th. www.galwayartsfestival.com

Further Information:Kathy Scott 0863593553 and katscottpr@gmail.com