7 Totally Free GIAF Events You Can Attend This Week
From aerial dance and bold installations to striking photography and a funky market, we've rounded up seven totally free things to attend before the festival is over.
Feature photo: Marta Barcikowska, Galway City Museum
The Air Between Us
On Friday 24th and Saturday 25th, at 1pm and 4pm, experience the duo that defies gravity.
New Zealand choreographer Chloe Loftus and Belgian dancer Florent Devlesaver will deliver a striking aerial dance performance, high above the ground.
With incredible strength and vulnerability, Loftus and Devlesaver – who dances in his wheelchair – will move you with their bold performance.
July Indoor Market
This Saturday 25th head to Cornstore Mall to explore vintage clothing, jewellery, artwork, crafts and original art all with a local DJ playing throughout the day.
Hosted by Outset Design, the markets have a range of booths that showcase the best of the best here in Galway and further afield.
Outset’s main shop will be open as well with a new stock of art, books, prints, cards, ceramics and more.
Faces of Galway, 1988-89
In the Galway City Museum, storyteller Suzanne Ahearne’s black and white images of Galway are on display.
When Ahearne arrived in Galway from Canada in the summer of 1988, she fell in love with the city and its community, and spent the following year working in local cafés and taking pictures on her Pentax K1000 of people on the street.
Through these photos, she captured the personalities and faces that give Galway its character. You can see the exhibition until 29th September.
Survivor Stories: Tuam and Ireland’s Institutional Past
Also in the Galway City Museum, a brand new exhibit focuses on the treatment of Irish mothers and their children.
Created with the University of Galway’s survivor-led Tuam Oral History Project, the exhibition tells the stories of 18 survivors through audio and visual exhibits.
Testimonies and other artefacts from survivors have been collected since 2018 making this exhibit engaging and impactful for those coming to see the exhibit.
Survivor Stories: Tuam and Ireland’s Institutional Past
Ireland at Venice: Assembly
Photos by Ste Murray
At the University of Galway’s O’Donoghue Theatre, you can step into the multi-sensory pavilion that is Assembly. The immersive installation was Ireland's national representative at the Venice Biennale 2025.
Made from Irish beech and woven textiles, the pavilion brings together traditional skill and contemporary design. Inside, soundboxes create the sounds of voices, poetry and music from both participants and makers.
Viewers are encouraged to engage in all of their senses at this exhibit. Smelling and touching the wood along with listening to the sounds. Experience it for yourself, until 26th July.
Awash
Dive into the intimate street photography of Galwegian artist Ciarán MacChoncarraige over at Satellite Projects & Studios.
MacChoncarraige’s Awash is a gorgeous collection of work showcasing the urban experience. He uses Galway City as his canvas and uses textured foregrounds, reflections and motion blurs when distorting the human form. On from Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm.
Rebel Kin: To the Letter
Head to the Festival Printworks Gallery and take in the large fold-out canvases, created by Dolores Lyne, that brings Rebel Kin:To the Letter to life.
Rebel Kin: To the Letter is a personal reflection on the Irish Civil War taken from a collection of letters written by a young man who was on the run and documenting life in hiding.
Lyne creates an immersive experience that invites the viewer to reflect. See it until the 26th July.
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