GALWAY HAS no shortage of festivals, especially in July, and another has just been added to the bill - the Galway Hearts Festival, celebrating the city's original music scene - past and present.
The festival, organised by Craic & Divilment, runs in The Blue Note from Sunday July 16 to July 30, and as well as music it will feature dance, art, and DJ sets. It opens this Sunday at 7pm with a 'garden party', with performances from acts on the independent Galway label Citóg Records, including Steven Sharpe & The Broke Straight Boy and Tracy Bruen.
Tracy Bruen (Galway Advertiser Solo Artist of the Year 2015 ) will also host a special show on Friday 21 at 7pm. Tracy is the current guardian of Galway's longest running Open Mic and has composed arrangements for a raggle taggle bunch of balladeers in three part harmony. These will be songs you know but have never heard like this before. (Admission €6 ).
On Sunday 23 at 2pm it will be Holy Hour, a pretend lock-in and recreation of the era in Ireland when pubs would close for an hour each day, Expect "Drinking, raving, quizzing, and blasphemy' (admission €6 ).
A festival highlight will be a celebration of Galway band The Little Fish on Thursday 27 at 7pm. The Story of...The Little Fish will see Jimmy Fitzgerald and Turlough Moore werform songs like 'Patsy Child', 'Goodbye', 'It's Waiting That I Hate', and 'Long Grass', and reminisce about the band (admission €6 ).
There will be a jazz and DJ fusion when saxophonist, arranger, performer, teacher and artistic director of Galway Jazz Festival, Matt Berrill, and DJ Cyril 'Disco' Briscoe, lead a six-piece beats inspired jazz ensemble with a specially arranged programme, on Friday 28 at 7pm (admission is €6 ).
The festival closes on Sunday 30 at 7pm with Good Ol' Trusty, a Galway supergroup made up of members of The Rye. Throughout the festival, there will be an exhibition by Grey & Ginger, a new Galway-based fashion brand, featuring T-shirts and sweatshirts bearing hand painted designs by artist Peter Bradley.
The Festival Club is in The Blue Note. On Friday 21 there will be electronic music duo ORI & GIN and Anthony Collins' multi-genre Guided Music Tour Of Old Mervue; WUA on Friday 28; 110th Street (DJs Cian Ó Cíobháin and Cyril Briscoe ) on Saturday 29. Festival club starts at 9pm.
Most events are free but four events are paid in. A Festival Ticket is €20. See galwayhearts.eventbrite.com
