The Galway Love Festival, known as the Galway Grá Festival, began on Leap Day this year in Galway’s Latin Quarter. Different activities, workshops and tours were held from 29 February until 3 March.
Initially taking place over Valentine’s Day weekend, the festival was founded in the Latin quarter by Margaret Nolan, who thought it would be a good idea to promote artists across the topic of love and relationships.
Margaret is an artist in residence of Galway and also curates the Galway Cartoon Festival.
About love
A poetry reading about love was held on Friday evening at Charlie Byrne’s bookshop. Some of the poems were romantic and philosophical, while others were comedic.
Eileen and Seamus Murphy are a couple who have shared over four decades of marriage. They came to the bookshop to attend the reading.
Seamus joked, “We’re well past the dating age, aren’t we? But this festival gives us old-timers a perfect excuse for a date night. I’m not the biggest fan of poetry, mind you, but any reason to spend time with my favorite person is good enough for me.”
After the reading, there was a disco held in the bookstore, with everyone immersed in a joyful and loving atmosphere.
But not just about love
“It’s not just about love; it’s about taking the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the idea of expressing love and extending it to include our love for art, for the community, and for all forms of expression,” said Jane, who is in charge of publicity for this year’s event.
She added, “The festival preparations come from Margaret’s extensive network of artists and arts workers and she encourages everyone to take part in the festival by either hosting an event or submitting some work to be displayed. So, you can see our events every year are quite varied, even seemingly unrelated at first glance.” She showed off this year’s event lineup and the posters she’s planning to post on social media.
From art exhibitions and music performances to food tours and community projects, each event is designed to foster a deeper connection with the participants and the different types of arts presented.
The involvement of local businesses and venues in the Latin Quarter contribute to build an actual community spirit to the festival, turning the entire district into a vibrant canvas of celebration.