Galway and the Road to 2020

Operating a multi-discipline approach, GIAF combines work by internationally renowned artists with street spectacles, grassroots events, gigs, clubs and comedy. In recent years, as well as hosting works by the Galway-based Druid Theatre Company, GIAF has featured work by the Abbey, the Royal Court, Steppenwolf, Propeller, Hofesh Schecter Dance Company and the National Theatre of Great Britain.

GIAF has also hosted concerts by Primal Scream, Philip Glass, David Byrne, Joni Mitchell, the Kronos Quartet, and shown work by David Hockney and David Mach.

Under Fahy's tenure, GIAF has become more of a producing organisation, and in the last year has toured productions of Enda Walsh's Ballyturk and Olwen Fouere's riverrun across the globe, with future tours planned.

Fahy has also brought the visual arts into the GIAF fold. With no permanent large-scale contemporary gallery space in the city, temporary spaces such as the Festival Gallery house major shows by Patricia Piccinini and others. Elsewhere this year, Galway City Museum is housing a series of autobiographical works by Louise Bourgeois while a new space by the docks, The Shed, is showing Borders, a series of paintings by Russian emigre, Varvara Shavrova. Also on show at GIAF this year is Primary Resources, a collaboration between Galway-based artist-led space, 126, and Glasgow's Transmission Gallery.

First Thought is a series of talks initiated by Fahy which look at themes relating to GIAF. This year's programme included Remaking the Shape of the World, in which climate change expert Kadir Van Lohuizen revealed that the coastline of Hull, the English city set to be the UK City of Culture 2017, is being eroded by as much as a metre a year.

In 2014, GIAF attracted audiences of 180,000 to 213 performances, talks and exhibitions across twenty-nine venues.

Key to Galway's artistic rise has been the pioneering work by Druid Theatre Company, which was founded by Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally in Galway in 1975, and was the first professional Irish theatre company to be set up outside Dublin. Over their forty year existence Druid have become key figures in the Galway scene. The company has toured locally and internationally, premiered Martin McDonagh's Leenane trilogy, and brought both their DruidSynge and DruidMurphy compendiums of works by JM Synge and Tom Murphy to Edinburgh International Festival. Druid are currently in New York with DruidShakespeare, while a series of new plays were given readings at this year's GIAF season under the Druid Debuts banner.

Another significant Galway-sired arts company is Macnas, whose open-air spectacles have left a mark on GIAF in terms of other outdoor work programmed.This year that included French street theatre specialists Transe Express, Flemish trapeze artists Collectif Malunes, solo circus performer George Orange, and acrobats Tac O Tac.

It was at the GIAF that The Waterboys singer Mike Scott first saw The Saw Doctors, with the two bands becoming close during the recording of The Waterboys Fisherman's Blues album.

Galway launched its bid to become European Capital of Culture 2020 in May this year. Having lost out in 2005 to Cork, where Edinburgh-based site-specific theatre company Grid Iron took their production of The Devil's Larder, Galway's 2020 campaign will be looking at the long-term legacy of the award when it was won by Glasgow in 1990 and Liverpool in 2008.

Glasgow 1990 was key to the city becoming a major European centre where art and culture has thrived. Venues opened during Glasgow 1990 include Tramway and The Arches, the latter of which was forced to close earlier this year after Glasgow City Council revoked its late licence following recommendations by Police Scotland.