Galway Races Hotels

Galway Races Hotels

The Galway Races (Summer Festival) start on the 27th July, 2009, but regular patrons of Ballybrit know that it is vital to book their Galway hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation well in advance.

Book your hotel in Galway now and you can rest assured that you'll be close to the real heart of the sporting and social action. Leave it too and you'll probably find yourself, in a nightmare of 'NO VACANCIES' signs, driving frustratedly through Spiddal and far beyond searching for bed and breakfast accommodation in the most inaccessible outposts of Connemara.

Galway Races 2009

Galway Summer Festival 2009

The seven day 2009 Galway Races Summer Festival will begin on Monday 27th July and end on Sunday 2nd August.

Bookings for the Galway Races 2009 can be made now at http://www.galwayraces.com/

Galway Oyster Festival 2008 - Programme of Events

GALWAY OYSTER FESTIVAL 2008
Programme of Events

For full details, visit the Galway International Oyster Festival 2008 official website at Galway Oyster Festival

Thursday 25th September 8pm
Guinness Irish Oyster Opening Championships

Friday 26th September 7.30pm
The Magnificent Mardi Gras Party
Venue: The Oyster Festival Marquee, Nimmo’s Pier

Saturday 27th September 12 noon
Official Opening of the Galway International Oyster Festival
Venue - Eyre Square

Saturday Afternoon at the Marquee
Venue - Festival Marquee Nimmo’s Pier
1.00 pm Oyster Tasting
2.00pm Guinness World Oyster Opening Championship
3.00 pm Elegant Lady Competition
3.30pm Announcement of Guinness World Oyster Opening Champion

Saturday 27th September
Oyster Festival Gala Ball
Venue: Radisson Hotel SAS
Start time: 8pm

Sunday 28th September 1pm
Farewell Party
Venue: Nimmo’s Pier

Galway Oyster Festival 2008

Galway Oyster Festival 2008

Thursday 25th - Sunday 28th September

The Galway International Oyster Festival, like the Galway Races and the Galway Arts Festival, is a major attraction to tourists from all over the world.

Featuring the Guinness Irish Oyster Opening Championships and the Oyster Pearl contest, the annual Galway Oyster Festival combines the delights of oysters and Guinness with Galway's celebrated hospitality, camaraderie and love of round-the-clock partying.

The Galway Races are over, but the fun is just about to begin.

So, tie your bicycle to the hitching-rail and enter the spirit of the Galway International Oyster Festival 2008.

Quay Street, Galway

Quay Street, Galway

Quay Street, Galway is much more than a street. "Quay Street, Galway" is an evocative, incantatory Irish phrase that conjures up a multiplicity of vivid images and memories for every visitor who has had the good fortune to enter into its magical dimension.

Quay Street, Galway is a unique, enriching experience. It is a sensory swirl of colourful shop fronts; aromatic cafes; spontaneous street theatre; conversation-buzzing, music-throbbing pubs; and friendly, yarn-spinning people.

Morning, afternoon or evening, Quay Street (Galway) is the West Awake, Ireland Through the Looking Glass.

Brian Cowen Singing

Taoiseach Brian Cowen enjoys singing. A man with a song and a well-developed sense of humour, he is a natural for the Galway Races.

Listen to Brian Cowen Singing.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen at Galway Races

Taoiseach Brian Cowen at the Galway Races

"It's a holiday festival. I think whether it's good times or bad times, you know, people need a bit of a break and (an opportunity to) relax.

There's a unique atmosphere here in Galway. There's a great tradition of racing here. And you have, of course, to ally that to all the tremendous investments that have been made in recent years.

You have a tremendous set of facilities here now. The management of the festival committee have to be congratulated for their foresight and their ability to reinvest and make sure that the product here is as good as anything that you'll find on these islands.

We're here at Galway Races trying to get away from some of that serious talk. I think it's always refreshing to come and see good racing and see one of the great jockeys of our time, Ruby Walsh give the winner there (Oslot) an absolute armchair ride."

You can watch Taoiseach Brian Cowan's interview on Youtube by clicking on Taoiseach Brian Cowan.