Joyful January Events for Bright 2025 Beginnings

Savour

Occupying the garden of a reinstated merchant house, Pálás Cinema is a concrete monolith that has brought 3,000 independent films to Galway, hosted festivals, Q&As and supported local filmmakers for the last seven years. Sadly, due to financial losses, compounded by rising costs, the iconic space is set to close in February.

Make January your month to make the most of this Tom de Paor-designed building, which features 22 beautiful resin-coated windows designed by Irish artist Patrick Scott, and of course, catch a film or two too. Nickel Boys, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead is screening January 3rd to 9th. palas.ie

See

Re-opening on the 4th and running until January 26th, OXO is an annual open-call exhibition, which provides a platform for artists based locally, nationally and internationally to exhibit their artwork in Outset Gallery on St Augustine Street.

This year you’ll find over 150 artworks from more than 140 artists, including Neil Gillespie, Lucas Sousa, Elizabeth Kinsella, Linda McCaann, and Leah Beggs, and a prime opportunity to acquire a unique piece. @outset_gallery   

Dance

Hotel Doolin plays host to A Sliver of Light, an intimate music and arts festival weekender that marks the moment we emerge from the deep winter darkness, and move towards a sliver of light.

Taking place from Friday 25th January to Sunday 27th, there’ll be live music, including from Cooks, But We're Chefs, above, and DJs across The Barn, Attic and the festoon-lit courtyard spaces of the hotel. Weekend tickets are €125.00 + €7.55 booking fee and a limited number of day tickets may be available closer to the date. Check out the full line-up on asliveroflight.ie. 

Listen

Celebrate 150 years since Maurice Ravel’s birth at the Midwinter Festival: Ravel, taking place 17-19th January at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre. This year’s festival features a selection of Ravel’s solo piano, chamber, and vocal music, culminating in a fresh dance interpretation of Boléro.

Highlights include the Swiss pianist François-Xavier Poizat, who is currently recording all of Ravel’s piano and chamber music, and is performing with Irish mezzo-soprano Gemma Ní Bhriain, and violinist Gwendolyn Masin. Presented in partnership with the University of Galway and the Embassy of Switzerland, tickets start at €12.50, with a festival pass available for €70. tht.ie

Apply

You have until 8th January to apply for the Notre Dame Kylemore Residencies, a six-day retreat for writers from April 14th to 19th at Kylemore Abbey. Three awarded writers will enjoy private en-suite rooms, catered meals, and access to the estate's Victorian Walled Gardens, Gothic Chapel, and museum, while communal writing spaces and optional workshops with writer-in-residence Dionne Irving Bremyer are also available.

Open to emerging and professional fiction and non-fiction writers; one spot is reserved for a disabled writer, with accommodations for accessibility needs. irishwriterscentre.ie