Long standing Connemara festivals vital asset to local economy

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The tourism season is reaching its peak in Connemara

Several long-standing community-driven events are vital assets for both the tourism industry and the local economy.

The first posters for this year’s Clifden Arts Festival appeared in Connemara this weekend.

The Festival, since its inception in the 1970ies, has been a feature of the early Autumn, and a cornerstone of the tourism industry in Connemara. It runs this year from September 14th for 10 days.

Meanwhile, preparations are afoot for Connemara Pony Show this coming month, one of the great spectacles of the year which brings people from all over the world. It runs from the 15th to the 18th of August.

In the Teach Ceoil in Tully in the Renvyle area, they have the Seisiún event every Tuesday night – traditional music, song, and dance organised by the Renvyle Comhaltas.

All of those events go back scores of years: the Arts Festival for 46 years; the Seisiún in the Teach Ceoil for 49 years and the Connemara Pony Show and Society for just 100 years.

Máirtín Ó Catháin for Galway Bay FM in Connemara]