Experience the best events in Galway—completely free! Explore This is Galway's Ultimate Budget-Friendly Events Guide and never miss out on top happenings without spending a cent.
Please note: This article will be updated as events take place meaning that this article can be your go-to no matter the day of week or time of year.
Heritage Week: The Galway Hooker
When: August 22nd, at 12pm
Where: Galway City Museum
More information here
To celebrate Heritage Week, Museum staff have prepared a special tour that begins with the origins of Galway – from Gaelic fort to Anglo-Norman town – and then focuses on an iconic object that reveals a story that has helped to shape the city’s unique character. Galway Hookers, with their distinctive black hulls and rust-red sails, are the traditional boat of Galway Bay. They were traditionally used for fishing and for transporting cargo – turf, seaweed, limestone, livestock, and general supplies – and people around the coasts of Galway and North Clare. The ‘fountain’ in Eyre Square represents the sails of a Galway Hooker. Join them to learn more. Tours begin at the Museum reception desk. Booking is required – please contact museum@galwaycity.ie or 091 532460.
Heritage Week: The Story of Living by the Sea - A Coastal Heritage Journey
When: August 23rd, at 10am
Where: Grattan Beach
More information here
Join Galway City Museum and Galway Atlantaquaria for a special Heritage Week event on Grattan Beach, Salthill. You are all invited to celebrate this year’s Heritage Week theme, “Exploring Our Foundations,” with a morning of seaside storytelling, fossil hunting, and shoreline discovery. This event is open to all ages and offers a unique chance to connect with our natural heritage and uncover the stories hidden in our coastal landscape. This event is FREE and family-friendly.
Heritage Week: St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Annual Culture and Heritage Event
When: August 23rd, from 11.30am
Where: St Nicholas Collegiate Church
More information here
The St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church Annual Culture and Heritage Event takes place from 11.30am to 3.30pm, and the public is invited to explore and experience Galway’s History and Culture in the city’s most historic building. The event is part of The Heritage Council’s National Heritage Week. With that in mind, there will be guided tours of St Nicholas’, construction of which began in 1320, and which has resulted in the church boasting many fascinating medieval features. The event is all about giving people a taste of what mediaeval life was like, and there will be fun and exciting displays of mediaeval fencing by Cluain Óir, the Galway Branch of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The public can also have a go at mediaeval pastimes by learning dancing styles from the period, trying their hand at calligraphy, having a taste of snacks that mediaeval Galwegians would have eaten, and learning about and having a go at creating Celtic Patterns. Throughout, and to enhance the mood, there will be live performances of music from the medieval era. Weaving will be a big part of the day, and the public can learn about traditional Irish weaving and have a go at Lucet Weaving, a style originating with the Vikings, and which was used to create cords on clothing or to hang items from a belt. As St Nicholas’ is committed to the use of the Irish language as part of its services, there will be opportunities for the public to use and learn some cúpla focal on the day. The Annual Culture and Heritage Event will also have plenty to keep children entertained and engaged through designing your own coat of arms, colouring in Celtic patterns, and face painting by the talented Giselle, sponsored by Dangan Nurseries.
Heritage Week: Wonderful Wildflowers – a guided walk
When: August 23rd, at 2pm
Where: Brigit's Garden
More information here
A lovely opportunity to enjoy a guided walk through the wonderful variety of wildflower meadows at Brigit’s Garden and appreciate their importance for biodiversity. Expert Dolores Keegan will help identify a wide range of wild plants and Jenny Beale of Brigit’s Garden will share tips on how to successfully grow both annual and perennial meadows. Ideal for anyone interested in growing wildflowers in their gardens or community spaces.
Heritage Week: Trees in Irish culture and mythology – a guided walk
When: August 24th, at 11am
Where: Brigit's Garden
More information here
Join nature guide Carol Barrett for an interactive walk through the woodlands at Brigit’s Garden to learn about our native trees and shrubs and their importance in Ireland’s culture and mythology. Carol will also discuss Ogham script, where each letter is related to a tree, and address the importance of nature in the Brehon laws. Everyone will have the opportunity to make a wooden Ogham pendant to take home. Suitable for adults and interested teens.
Heritage Week: Family nature-based storytelling workshop in the woods
When: August 24th, at 2pm
Where: Brigit's Garden
More information here
Join storyteller and forest school leader Carol Barrett in the woods at Brigit’s Garden for an interactive storytelling workshop that will bring Irish nature-based myths and legends alive for children. Be prepared to get involved, dress up and have lots of fun! There will be costumes, masks and materials to get creative with and help act out the stories and legends. The workshop will be held under a large outdoor shelter which provides a dry, weatherproof space amongst the native trees. Suitable for adults with children aged 4+, but younger ones also welcome.
Talk: Corrib Beo Talk - Ashworth's Salmon Pass at Cong
When: August 27th, at 1pm
Where: Galway City Museum
More information here
In collaboration with Galway City Museum, Corrib Beo invites you to the seventh talk in its Lunchtime Talks Series. Join guest speaker Dr. Noel Wilkins for a talk entitled Ashworth’s Salmon Pass at Cong. The physical infrastructure of Connaught (its harbours, roads and bridges) was laid down in the early nineteenth century. Its waterways infra structure was commenced at the same time, but was never completed after the Great Famine, with structures like the Corrib-Mask navigation canal left unfinished. Thomas Ashworth, owner of the Galway fishery from 1852, decided to utilize part of the unfinished canal in order to enhance his fishery by constructing a ‘fish ladder’ and a ‘salmon pass’ at the site of the abandoned canal. He also laid down salmon eggs in Lough Mask. Ashworth’s innovative venture ceased with his death and was soon forgotten. Apart from Dr Wilkin’s 1980s study of the unique salmon pass innovation at Cong, its existence has rarely been acknowledged. A recent visit to the site indicates that it is now probably beyond recognition and lost forever. Sic transit! This talk describes the salmon venture and discusses it in the context of developments of the period, including the social environment in the 1850s.
Music: Open Deck Night
When: August 28th, from 11pm
Where: Róisín Dubh
More information here
A monthly Open Deck Night is being held for up-and-coming DJs. From novices to pros, anyone is welcome to come get their hands on a pair of decks. Aiming to help local DJs gain experience and network and to create a class night for the regular punters to enjoy and support the local scene. Sign up on @/opendeckgalway Instagram.
Illustrated Talk: The Lifting Stone Tradition
When: September 6th, at 2pm
Where: Galway City Museum
More information here
Like Scotland, Iceland, and the Basque region, Ireland has a strong tradition of lifting large, cumbersome stones as a rite of passage to manhood. The tradition was particularly strong in Co. Galway and is recalled in Liam O’Flaherty’s 1937 short story ‘The Stone’ in which an old Aran islander perishes striving to lift the stone he once raised in the vigour of his youth. Many lifting stones have survived along the Galway coast and those who lifted them are well remembered in local folklore. Over the last number of years, David Keohan – who hails from Waterford city and holds a kettlebell-lifting world record – has been on a mission to locate, lift and document lifting stones across Ireland and, in doing so, bring back this lost element of Irish culture. Join David as he discusses the stone lifting tradition with a particular focus on Galway, where the tradition appears strongest. David would be particularly eager to hear from people with any knowledge of lifting stones or lifting traditions in their locality.
Workshop: Hand Sewn Repairs
When: September 13th, at 10.30am
Where: Galway City Museum
More information here
This workshop, which focuses on hand sewn repairs, is run by Eimear Greaney (UPSEW). Eimear will show you how to do simple repairs, from threading a needle to darning denim. Participants will sew buttons, fix seams, mend rips and sew zips. All materials provided and the workshop is free of charge – but numbers are limited (12 attendees max.). To book your place please phone Galway City Museum at 091 532460 or email Museum@GalwayCity.ie.
Workshop: Repair Café
When: September 13th, slots at 1pm, 2pm, & 3pm
Where: Galway City Museum
More information here
A repair café is a part of a grassroots movement that aims to reduce waste, overconsumption, and planned obsolescence. This café focuses on garments and is asking people to come along with their item and a trained volunteer will be there to show and do the repair alongside them. The repairer will have some mending tools and materials with them but if it’s replacement zips or large patches the person will have to bring a coordinating zip or fabric with them. Space is limited (6 attendees max). To book your one-hour slot please contact Galway City Museum at 091 532460 or email Museum@GalwayCity.ie . Please note the one-hour slots are 1pm-2pm; 2pm-3pm & 3pm-4pm.
Culture Night: Live Performance - Stay Forever More
When: September 19th, from 6pm
Where: Outset Gallery
More information here
Experience Stay Forever More at a special late-night viewing at Outset Gallery, featuring ambient lighting, refreshments, and live music designed to reframe the exhibition through sound. This one-night event offers a new way to engage with Patryk Gizicki’s powerful photographic series on migration, identity, and belonging. Developed through Outset’s Graduate Open Call, the exhibition marks the artist’s first major solo show. For Culture Night, the gallery will transform into an immersive environment, with live performances from musicians who have collaborated with the artist to create a soundscape responding to the work. Expect a reflective, atmospheric evening where light, image, and sound combine to offer an alternative lens through which to experience Stay Forever More.
Music: The Dark Well
When: September 25th, from 8pm
Where: Róisín Dubh
More information here
The Dark Well – A Ground Breaking Collaboration of Banjo & Harmonica at Róisín Dubh. Two masters of their craft, Enda Scahill and Joel Andersson, come together to create something never before heard—a full album of Irish music on banjo and harmonica, a world-first recording that reimagines the tradition with breathtaking virtuosity and innovation.
Festival: Lasta presents the exhibition 'Tension' by Zara Hering
When: October 1st-5th, from 10am
Where: Town Hall Theatre
More information here
Zara’s practice explores the delicate interplay between control and surrender. In her current body of work. large-scale, abstract patterns rendered in pen on paper. She embraces an intuitive process where the act of making becomes the art itself. What unfolds is not a predetermined image, but a dialogue: between hand and line, thought and instinct, artist and material. A graduate of IADT with a background in sculpture, Zara previously worked with steel and fabric to express themes of tension, physical, emotional, and psychological. Fabric strained against welded frames spoke to internal pressures, resistance, and release. That same energy persists in her drawings, where repeated patterns echo a meditative rhythm, but never strive for perfection. Instead, the work emerges through a kind of listening. This surrender is both an artistic approach and a personal ritual, one rooted in healing. Letting go of control, embracing flow, and allowing uncertainty are central to her evolving practice. Her drawings become more than visual works; they are the trace of an internal process, a tangible record of trust and tension held in balance. Zara’s work invites the viewer into this space, one where softness and structure co-exist, and where silence speaks. It doesn’t seek to explain itself, but to be felt. Each line, each repetition, is an echo of presence, a gesture of letting go.
Music: Nature TV
When: October 2nd, from 11.59pm
Where: Róisín Dubh
More information here
Door-to-door heartbreak salesmen Nature TV peddle an elixir of escapism and adventure. Sorrow and despondency. Contemplative nostalgia and tender melancholy. Hailing from Brighton it’s a canvasing technique they employ around the British Isles. Geographically out of phase with the main character energy of London, Guy Bangham (guitar, vocals), Josh Eriskin (bass) and James Hunt (lead guitar, backing vocals) write sadboi yacht rock, layered with all the buried trauma of a Wes Anderson plot. Playing in the Róisín Dubh, Galway on October 2nd, support on the night will be The Works.
Festival: Lasta presents FUSE Music Collective Children’s Workshop – Let’s Sing!
When: October 4th, at 12pm
Where: Town Hall Bar
More information here
This is a group singing workshop for young voices, open to children from Junior Infants – 2nd class. During the Let’s Sing workshop, young people will get that chance to: Sing in a group / Play singing games / Learn helpful techniques / Build performance confidence / Arts and crafts session / Make new friends. FUSE will be performing songs by lots of artists including Taylor Swift, George Ezra, Ed Sheeran and many more. The second half of the workshop will be a relaxing arts and crafts session while listening to some of your favourite music. All materials will be provided.
Music: the drive.
When: November 6th, from 11.59pm
Where: Róisín Dubh
More information here
Dynamic and autonomous, Cork-based outfit the drive. have crafted a sound that fuses the dark, visceral energy of grunge with the reverb-drenched textures of shoegaze. A string of standalone singles first garnered international attention – earning the group US airtime, extensive press across Ireland and the UK, and features on Spotify’s ‘melomania.’ and the cover of ‘Alternative Ireland’. A band acclaimed for their captivating live performances of melancholic works, the drive. have built an impressive live résumé; with their stage successes including sold-out headline shows across Ireland – such as Whelan’s Upstairs and The Grand Social (Dublin), and Cyprus Avenue (Cork) – alongside festival circuits throughout the UK and Ireland. With a growing reputation and a unique sonic identity, the drive. have rightfully earned their place as one of Ireland’s most exciting emerging bands.
Music: Kling Klang
When: December 4th, from 11.59pm
Where: Róisín Dubh
More information here
Kling Klang are an artrock synthesizer band influenced by krautrock / noise / experimental / stoner music such as Neu!, Black Sabbath, Suicide, Trans Am and TwinKranes. The band are currently touring in support of their upcoming release on Wrong Speed Records, and the repress of their critically acclaimed debut LP “The Esthetik Of Destruction”. The current lineup features Joe McLaughlin, George McFall and Ricky White alongside Jon Hamilton from Part Chimp.
Feature photo by Chaosheng Zhang
Published on Updated on
