A half-century of friendship, music, cultural exchange, and Celtic connections will be joyfully celebrated this May as the Galway-Lorient Town Twinning marks its Golden Anniversary.
Brittany Fest Galway 2025, which runs from May 9 to May 18, will mark the 50th anniversary of the town twinning of Galway with the Breton city of Lorient, through music concerts; a major maritime display; dance and language events; an exhibition; Gaelic games; and family fun, including a digital treasure hunt.
The Festival will be launched on May 15 at 6pm in The King’s Head, and will include a performance by Galway folk/trad band, Cogar, followed at 9:30pm by a gig in The Bunch of Grapes with the Galway BayTones and Les Gabiers d’Artimon, the long running Breton group specialising in maritime music and song.
Celebrating a shared maritime heritage
The Maritime heritage of Brittany and Galway will be celebrated spectacularly with the arrival of le Biche, a Dundee-rigged tuna boat of the Atlantic, originally built in 1934. This style of ship is to Brittany what the Claddagh Hooker is to Galway, and it will lead a Lorient flotilla into Galway Harbour on May 10.
Le Biche will be open to the public for free visits throughout most of Brittany Fest Galway; booking will be available for day trips, on board events, and a day trip to Aran, as well as sculling courses, challenges, and music events. Further maritime events will see Claddagh boat trips to the bay on May 18.
Concerts, dance, and song
The Music of Ireland and Brittany is the other central focus of the festival. Galway will get a taste of the Breton Fest Noz with a concert by two of the most exciting practitioners of Breton traditional music: Ampouailh and Charlie Le Brun at Monroe’s Live on May 16 at 8pm.
Ampouailh have won acclaim for blending modern sounds and textures with music deeply grounded in the rich cultural traditions and history of Brittany. Flute player, singer, and composer Charlie Le Brun is making his first return to Galway since 2023.
Cercle Brizeux Lorient will give a costumed display of traditional Breton dance on Shop Street on May 17 from 2pm, while that evening there will be a trad music/Breton session trail involving Taaffes, Tig Choili, and The Crane Bar. For those wanting to learn more about Breton and Irish trad and folk music, there will be workshops in the Rowing Club, Woodquay, on May 18. The festival officially concludes on May 18 with Galvian Way playing The King’s Head.
Family events
There will be a variety of events for children and families, chief among them the digital treasure hunt which takes place throughout Brittany Fest Galway 2025, where children can learn more about Breton and Celtic cultures through exploring the historic sights of Galway by gathering clues around the city centre organised with the help of FLAM Galway.
There will also be the Galway-Lorient 50th Anniversary Exhibition at Galway Museum, retracing 50 years of exchanges and friendships between the two cities; watch GAA Brittany Senior Team v Salthill Knocknacarra GAA in a friendly on May 9; and on May 17, Celtic and Breton tales and songs in Galway City Library.
For more information on tickets, dates, and booking, see galway-lorient.eu For events involving Le Biche, booking is via www.gbsc.ie/lebiche
