Your Cultural Calendar for November in Galway
Blas na Samhna food festival runs all month long, TULCA brings punk back to the city’s galleries, trad music fills our ears and the iconic Eyre Square Christmas Market returns. Here’s our top picks for November in Galway.
Taste
Running for a whole month, Blas na Samhna (A Taste of November) is Galway’s winter food and drinks festival, and it’s the perfect excuse to eat out. From 1st to 30th November, the best restaurants, producers and venues across the city and county take part.
Expect everything from cosy comfort food to experimental dishes, with creative cocktail pairings and wine selections along the way. Highlights include an evening of wine tasting and Samhain storytelling at Daróg, a foraging walk in Barna woods, a hands-on fermentation and wild food workshop in Aniar and a cosy hot chocolate tasting session with Grá Chocolates.
And, as always, there’s a strong focus on local produce too.
Click here for the full programme.
Explore
TULCA Festival of Visual Arts is looking into what the spirit of punk looks like, fifty years after its first emergence. The 24th edition of the festival takes over venues across the city from 6th to 22nd November, launching at An Post Gallery on the 6th under the title Veruca Salt.
Curator Sinéad Keogh has built the programme around what it means to “know who you are and know what you want”. You’ll find answers in exhibitions, films and live performance, talks and workshops, with archive material from punk’s first wave alongside artists working today.
The festival runs for more than two weeks, so there’s plenty of time to fit it in your schedule. It works best as a slow wander around the city, taking in a piece here and there. Even if you don’t think of yourself as an art person, it’s a good way to see parts of Galway you might not usually visit.
Click here for the full programme and gallery map.
Watch
Left: 2026 GENERATION Fleadh Short Film Submissions, Middle: Washed Up (2026) by Isabel Daly, Right: GENERATION Fleadh 2025
Know a young person who lives for the cinema?
Generation Fleadh, the younger sister of the Galway Film Fleadh, returns from 4th to 8th November. The festival brings film screenings and an educational film programme to young adults across the county. There’s also an outreach programme and collaborations with festivals like the European Film Academy.
The aim is to celebrate film culture in Galway and give young Galweigans a place to meet others share their passion. The programme is shaped by the Generation Fleadh Council and youth review panels, so that it stays for the youth, by the youth.
Discover
The Galway Science & Technology Festival returns from 8th to 20th November, with shows and workshops for schools across the city and county.
The festival’s big day for families is Sunday, 8th November, when the University of Galway hosts a free exhibition, with over 100 interactive exhibits on show.
Dinosaurs and LEGO sit alongside robots, and the Teddy Bear Hospital is back for the little ones! Meanwhile, Galway City Museum is home to Superhuman, a CÚRAM exhibit on medical research.
Browse
Left: Painting by Elaine Cunningham, Right: Painting by Dominic McNamara
Featuring contemporary Irish art, the Barna Art Fair is a two-day exhibition running from 21st to 22nd November in Scoil Shéamais Naofa in Barna. Whether you’re shopping for Christmas gifts or just browsing, the wide selection of paintings, sculptures and mixed media pieces will match every preference.
Entry is free, and the fair is open from 10am to 6pm on both days, so there’s no need to rush. There’s also a raffle to win three original paintings, if you’re feeling lucky!
Listen
Left: Sharon Shannon. Right: Séamus & Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta
A full week of trad is on the way – Galway TradFest is back for a third year, with seven days of traditional music from 9th to 15th November. Concerts, song and dance are all on the menu, and there’s plenty for younger musicians to be involved in.
That includes GLÓR, which sees Galway's own Séamus & Caoimhe Uí Fhlatharta team up with acclaimed sean-nós singer Máire Ní Churraoin, and GEATA, the festival’s masterclass for younger musicians, which gives young people in the county the chance to learn from some of the best on the scene.
Click here for the full programme and tickets.
Dance
Photos by Declan English
Fancy a night at the ballet? Ballet Ireland brings its production of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet to the Town Hall Theatre on 6th and 7th November.
The moving show comes from popular choreographer Morgan Runacre-Temple and is set to the music of Prokofiev, one of classical music’s giants.
Both performances are listed as family friendly, so it is a great first ballet for older children. Each night begins at 8pm and finishes around 10pm, so there’s plenty time for a bite beforehand.
Celebrate
The Galway Christmas Market opens in Eyre Square on Friday, 6th November, and runs right up to 31st December. Now in its 16th year, it welcomed almost half a million visitors in the last year alone.
The square fills with stands selling artisan food and gifts from local and European traders. Expect bratwurst, crêpes and plenty of mulled wine. For a panoramic view of the market, take a spin on the Big Wheel. There’s also a carousel, Santa’s Express Train and live choirs to enjoy the festive atmosphere.
Entry to the market is free and all ages are welcome.
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