Vague Reminiscences of the Ayurts Festival

Back at choir practice with the fabulous Galway Gospel Choir last night ahead of our street gig tomorrow lunchtime (1.00 city centre). One of the altos is doing a thesis on the Galway Arts Festival since its inception in the late seventies. In terms of the origin of the Festival in my age riddled mind it was the product of a very active and enlightened students union in UCG which just outgrew the College and spilled onto the streets of the city. Initially the gig scene in Galway improved dramatically, with the likes of Eric Clapton, The Jam, Dr. Feelgood, Graham Parker and the Rumour being brought to town. The small cafeteria on campus became Smokey Joes by night and was the most exciting venue in town, bringing the many of the major players in Ireland's exploding folk scene to town. My first experience of a real gig was with a couple of mates from school (we were fifth years in the Jes), when we played support to a semi-professional Stockton's Wing in the late seventies.Then a natural momentum developed with the enthusiastic leadership of the likes of Ollie Jennings, Pat Boran et al. The gigs outgrew the small terrapin building and moved into the newly built main lecture theatres as Clannad, De Dannann, Freddie White etc did their thing. The Druid Theatre, itself a product of the energy of a group of students, started to shine. At some stage the burden of major funding shifted from the college to the drinks companies and private sector companies and thus it lost its best kept secret status and began to attract non Galwegians. In the early days it seemed to be very much about giving Galway people a chance to be wonderstruck by doing things that shouldn't really have been possible. The main venue was a large tent set up in a field owned by the college, as the city didn't have anything like enough suitable venues for what was being undertaken. The memories aren't clear, it's difficult to put dates on performances, but I remember the buzz on the streets, the anticipation in the weeks before the Festival. Contacting all your friends (by land-line) if you had seen something spectacular that shouldn't be missed. The sense of wonder and amazement like the one that you felt when you saw and heard your first fireworks display.