Summer Festivals & Events in Galway
Your guide to the best of Galway's summer, June to September
Galway in summer is a city that never stops celebrating. From the first long evenings of June through to the late-September oyster weekend, the streets fill with music, theatre, racing colour and the smell of seafood on the air. Whether you are here for a romantic break, a family adventure or a full festival weekend, everything happens within a short walk of The House Hotel in the Latin Quarter.
Below is our pick of the summer, with a card for each festival and a link to find out more. Step out of our door and into the best of the season.
Trad on the Prom
Galway's summer-long trad spectacular. World-champion dancers, fiddles and powerful voices light up Salthill's Leisureland from May through to late September.
Trad on the Prom Guide
Galway Film Fleadh
Six days of bold new cinema, premieres and filmmaker Q&As take over the city each July. Expect stars, fresh Irish voices and a buzzing festival atmosphere.
Galway Film Fleadh Guide
Galway International Arts Festival
Two weeks of theatre, music, art and street spectacle every July, with big-name gigs under the Heineken Big Top and shows right across the city.
Arts Festival Guide
The Galway Races
Seven days of racing, fashion and celebration in late July. Ladies' Day, the Galway Plate and a party that spills from the track into every city pub.
Galway Races Guide
Galway International Oyster Festival
The world's oldest oyster festival lands by the Spanish Arch each late September: seafood trails, the World Oyster Opening Championship and a masquerade ball.
See the Oyster Festival on our Festivals pageSummer in Galway for Couples, Families and Festival-Goers
For couples
Summer is Galway at its most romantic. Long evenings on the Latin Quarter‘s terraces, an Arts Festival show followed by a late dinner, oysters and a glass of something cold by the water in September. Our boutique rooms are a quiet retreat a few steps from all of it. See our Summer Breaks offer for two-night escapes.
For families
There is plenty for younger visitors too. The Arts Festival’s free street spectacle, the Spanish Arch markets, buskers on Shop Street and a short stroll to the Salthill promenade make for easy, busy summer days. Our triple rooms and Apartment Family Suite give families space to spread out. Take a look at our Family Getaways offer.
For festival-goers
If you are here for the festivals themselves, location is everything. Almost every venue, from the Heineken Big Top to the Town Hall Theatre to the racecourse shuttle at Eyre Square, is within a short walk of our door. No taxis, no parking stress, and the city’s best bars and live music a minute away when the official programme ends. Book early: July dates fill up months ahead.
More Summer Happenings
- The Galway Sessions (June). A week of intimate trad in the Crane Bar, the Kings Head and the Town Hall Theatre, with folk legends and visiting Scottish players.
- Galway Uke Fest (mid-June). A joyful three-day weekend of music on tiny guitars across the Latin Quarter, free to enjoy and a real local favourite.
- Tiny Traders Market, Spanish Arch (summer weekends). Friday to Sunday the Spanish Arch becomes a buzzing maker’s market, a lovely free wander three minutes from our door.
- Bloomsday (16 June). Readings, music and Joyce-inspired wandering around Eyre Square and the city, perfect for a cultured June afternoon.
- Salthill and the Prom (all summer). A short stroll or hop on the coast road for the famous Salthill promenade, swimming spots, ice cream and sea air.
- Buskers on Shop Street (daily). Galway’s pedestrian streets fill with world-class street performers all summer, free and endlessly atmospheric on the walk to dinner.