Between all the TV channel surfing, face stuffing and reconnecting with family and friends, get out to celebrate the festivities with some of Galway’s best events and gigs. To help keep you happy and sane over your days off, find our guide to what to do over the Christmas break below…
As Christmas and New Years Day fall on a Wednesday this week we have decided to extend our usual 12 days of Christmas guide by a few days in order to give you the ultimate compilation of all there is to do in Galway over Christmas. We hope you enjoy and wish you all a Happy Christmas/Happy Holiday!
Get your presents at the Galway Christmas Markets
The popular Tiny Traders Village is set up with another fantastic indoor Christmas Market which will run right up until Christmas Eve. Located at Edward Square next to New Look the market features the best local artisan gifts, arts, crafts, cosmetics, antiques, vintage clothing, food, collectors items, souvenirs and much much more. More here. Additionally the Christmas Market on Eyre Square will be open right up until Christmas Eve and will even reopen after Christmas Day and run until January 5th. The market once again features the highly popular 32m observation wheel, Après Ski Bar, Santa’s Express Train, a traditional Carousel and over 50 wooden chalets which line Eyre Square, offering scrumptious seasonal treats and a variety of crafts.
Bring your Children to see a Christmas Pantomime
Running until Dec 21st / An Taibhdhearc / tickets here
Fionn is back at An Taibhdhearc to face his greatest-ever challenge in this year’s Christmas pantomime. To prevent the onset of global freezing he must travel to outer space and battle an ancient foe! Can he save the planet in time for Christmas or has the sun disappeared…. forever?! With the trusty Druid Bódhmall by his side, Fionn and crew must face fears of the great unknown and survive his biggest adventure yet! Fionn sa Spás turns Irish myth to super-hero legend in this new space romp from Fíbín sa Taibhdhearc. It will be out of this world so get your tickets for the pantomime before it’s too late!
Watch a live performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’
Dec 20th at 3pm & 5pm / The Mick Lally Theatre / more information here
This performance is Aaron Monaghan and Bryan Burroughs’ playful, physical storytelling, stage adaptation of Charles Dickens’ much loved novella. Devised straight from Dickens’ classic text, the two award-winning actors- dressed in snazzy suits- play all the characters at break-neck speed using an array of colourful hats, scarves and an Ikea coat-rack! The famous cautionary tale tells the story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by ghosts who take him on a journey through his past, present and future one fateful Christmas Eve. This production is funny, slightly scary, utterly heart-warming and features a surprise special guest appearing as Tiny Tim…
Shampain & Strange Brew present... Aiséirí
Dec 21st at 6.30pm / Leisureland / tickets here
Strange Brew and Shampain present the exhilarating new day festival Aiséirí, which takes over Galway’s legendary Leisureland venue on December 21st. Expect the weird and wonderful in terms of both sight and sound as Salthill’s oldest venue becomes the host for one of the city’s most exciting names in music for quite some time. Meshing live and electronic sounds together in a big dance hall very much harks back to a particular 90s atmosphere, and despite this obvious cry for nostalgia, Aiséirí comes to fruition with a forward facing lineup of unique Irish talent in the form of Dundalk’s Just Mustard, Galway’s Olan Monk and Dublin’s One Leg One Eye. Giving us dashes of shoegaze, noise and auto-tuned pop alongside Shampain’s incomparable DJing ability, it’s fair to say that audiences will never have heard or seen anything like this.
Celebrate the Winter Solstice with a ‘Dip at Dawn’
Dec 21st at 8.30am / Salthill Beach / more information here
Make the most of the shortest day of the year and join Galway Simon Community for a Dip at Dawn and support those facing the trauma of homelessness across Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Galway Simon Community invites you to take the challenge, don your swimwear and join with your colleagues, friends and family at 8.30am on Saturday the 21st of December for an invigorating dip at Salthill Beach and help tackle homelessness. Are you up to the challenge? Then bring your friends, family or workmates along to Salthill Beach and share a revitalising moment with Galway Simon Community.
Buy a round in your Local
Christmas is the time of year to catch up and reconnect with loved ones and sometimes the best place for that is over a few cold ones in your local boozer. Galway city and county are full of amazing bars, pubs, and wine bars that will be spreading cheer throughout the Christmas break. Make sure you call in and share in the well wishes and get a round in for your friends (and the bartender). The 12 pubs of Christmas anyone? Raise a glass here.
Watch a Christmas Classic on a Big Screen
It's the time of year to spread some cheer, so start making a Christmas film list and check it twice, as Pálás Cinema and Eye Cinema bring your favourite movies to the big screen over Christmas week. There’s plenty of nostalgia with the usual lineup of all your festive favourites and hijinks with the addition of contemporary classics which will be sure to please all from Buddy the Elf to Scrooge himself. There’s also the opportunity to ring in the new year with old (or new) friends as the Christmas season in Pálás comes to an end with When Harry Met Sally on New Year’s Eve. To see Pálás Cinema’s full Christmas programme please tap here. To see and book your tickets for a screening at Eye Cinema please tap here.
Throw shapes on a Galway dance floor
The year is almost at an end so what could be a better finale to 2024 than by hitting one of Galway’s best dance floors and dancing through the night with your nearest and dearest. It has been said that if you haven't boogied, shifted or completely lost the run of yourself on a Galway dance floor then you haven't really experienced a night out in Galway! Check out our top picks on where to go dancing in Galway here and we hope to see you under the disco ball.
Take Part in the Christmas Day Swim
Dec 25th at 9am / Blackrock Beach / more information here
It’s a long standing tradition for many across Ireland, so this year whether it’s your first time participating or your umpteeth, join the crowds by Blackrock Diving Tower and brave the cold so others don’t have to. Join the merriment on Christmas Day in Salthill, help raise funds for a valuable cause and then go off to stuff your faces on all that Christmas dinner goodness. When you register you will receive a free swim t-shirt, registration is available as an individual or as a team.
Support Local by Saying Hello to New Faces
As we prepare to close out 2024, and welcome in a new year, we wanted to introduce you to some of the new businesses that have opened their doors in Galway over the last few months. Folks, get ready to support local this Christmas and pay a visit to these new kids on the block! Christmas is a time of giving back to your community, by supporting local businesses and creators, so why not over the last few weeks of 2024, make it your mission to say hello and show some love to the new places that have opened in Galway. Meet the new businesses here.
Embark on an Adventure with Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs
From Dec 29th / Town Hall Theatre / tickets here
This year the cast and crew of Renmore Pantomime Society promise to deliver the timeless classic ‘Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs’ to the stage with humorous lines, laughter and a heart-warming tale of friendship. The story unfolds as wicked witch Carabose plans on marrying the handsome Prince Peter of Pantoland, however the arrival of the beautiful Snow White puts a spanner in the works. Despite the trickery of Carabose, Prince Peter, a good Fairy, a glamorous Granny and seven little forest dwelling Dwarfs manage to bring the popular story of Snow White to a happy conclusion. This new version of the popular Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is guaranteed to deliver fun and frolics for all the family.
Welcome in 2025 in Galway
Get ready for the countdown to a brand new year!! You deserve to enjoy a fantastic end to 2024, so this New Year’s Eve join in the celebrations and welcome in 2025 with friends and family in Galway. From bottles of bubbly, festive cocktails and delicious party foods to watching firework displays and dancing your way into a new year and new you, here are our picks of where to ring in the New Year in Galway… read our guide to NYE here.
Make your New Year Resolutions
Deciding on 2025 year goals is no easy task -join a gym, join a club, give up the drink, start journaling, go for more walks, start sea-swimming, spend less time on social media.. These are just some of the many challenges that we set for ourselves each year, now whether you actually manage to complete any is really besides the point ( don’t they say it’s the thought that counts anyway?) And sure who doesn’t love a trier? …Good luck!
Run 5K on New Year’s Day
Jan 1st at 10.15am / South Park / register here
A fun and fitness forward way to begin 2025, the Resolution 5k Run is taking place on January 1st at 10.15am. Beginning in South Park, the route will take runners across Wolfe Tone Bridge onto Merchants Road, back along Dock Road, across Wolfe Tone Bridge again, down and back along Grattan Road to the finish line at Claddagh Hall. Entry is €25, and there will be a superb souvenir gift for all entrants. This is going to be a fantastic social start to the New Year so lace up your runners and we will see you at the starting line.
Photo by RDNE Stock Project
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