Chill’n’Grill Bar B Q Nights (Office Nights & Private Groups) The perfect way to spend those long hot summer nights… Download PDF

Meridian Restaurant Summer Value Menu (Dinner from €19.95 per person including a Complimentary Drink in the Westwood Bar) Download PDF

GALWAY FESTIVALS & EVENTS

JULY

Galway Film Fleadh: 7 - 12 July 2009

With past guests ranging from Peter O’Toole and Jessica Lange to Oliver Reed, Neil Jordan and Sir Richard Attenborough, the Galway Film Fleadh, is a celebration of filmmaking from around the world. This year the Fleadh is celebrating its 21st Anniversary.

See www.galwayfilmfleadh.com

Galway Arts Festival: 13 - 26 July 2009

The Galway Arts Festival is an annual celebration of art in every form and brings the streets of Galway alive every July. With all types of performance from juggling chainsaws to tight rope walking and face painting to fire juggling. A must see, especially for young families.

See www.galwayartsfestival.com

Galway Races: 27 July - 3 August 2009

Perhaps the most well known of all the Galway Festivals, the Galway Races is still galloping on successfully. This horse racing festival is renowned across the world and is as much a fair as a race. Accommodation available at the Westwood from as little as €149.00 per night.

For festival details see www.galwayraces.com

AUGUST

Crinniu na mBad Festival: 21 - 23 August

Up to 100 unique Irish boats, the Galway Hookers, gather every August for a weekend of racing and celebration at Cruinniú na mBád (Gathering of the Boats) festival in Kinvara. Since its revival in 1979, the festival has become one of the most unique and successful weekend festivals in Ireland.

See www.kinvara.com

Umbro Galway Cup Tournament

Salthill Devon took it upon themselves to take the first step to develop international football in the South of Ireland; creating and developing the Umbro Galway Cup, which takes place in their modern state-of-the-art facility at Drom Soccer Park.

Now in its fifth year, the Umbro Galway Cup continues to grow and prosper. The competition has been broadcast on national television [Setanta Sports, RTÉ], and has attracted teams from the UK, the US, Canada, the South East, Eastern Europe, as well as a strong representation of Irish clubs. League of Ireland outfits such as Shelbourne, Derry City, and Bohs have attended in the past, and have competed against UK academies like Ipswich Town, Glasgow Celtic, Aberdeen, Leeds Utd, Newcastle Utd, Fulham, and Leicester City.

The Umbro Galway Cup targets the Boys Under 15 age group each year as the Elite cup – a competition dedicated solely to professional clubs and established academies. In 2005, the Football Association of Ireland walked away victorious, while it has been our friends from the UK who have claimed the title in the past three years – Aberdeen in 2006, and Ipswich Town, under the guidance of Sammy Morgan, in 2007. 2008 saw a strong Leicester City outfit emerge victorious from what was the strongest Elite group to date.

See www.galwaycup.com/index.asp

SEPTEMBER

Clarenbridge Oyster Festival: 11 - 13 September 2009

No where else on earth can match the perfect conditions that exist in Clarenbridge for growing and harvesting Oysters, which is why the Clarenbridge Oyster festival has been so popular since it’s beginnings in 1954. The festival is full of food, music, dancing and family fun.

See www.clarenbridge.com

Galway Oyster Festival: 24 - 27 September 2009

This festival to celebrate the beginning of the Oyster season was created in 1953 by local hotelier Brian Collins as a way of extending the Galway festival season into September, filling his hotel and bringing business to the region. 56 years later, the festival is still going strong.

See www.galwayoysterfest.com

OCTOBER

Great Irish Beer Festival: October Bank Holiday 2009

A festival of beer appreciation, for lovers of barley.

See www.greatirishbeerfestival.com

NOVEMBER

Galway Jazz Festival: 1 November 2009

The aim of this festival is to foster Jazz as a contemporary art form in the west of Ireland. This festival features a range of Jazz music in a broad range of venues across the city.

See www.galwayjazzfestival.com

Spirit of Voice Festival: 6 - 8 November 2009

This festival is a celebration of of song and spoken word.

See www.spiritofvoice.com

2010

MAY

The Galway Early Music Festival

This festival runs annually in May and features concerts by top international performers, workshops, schools events and music and theatre in the Galway City Museum and in the street. The Festival has a unique, relaxed and friendly atmosphere and highlights the medieval town of Galway and the artistic and cultural richness of the area.

See www.galwayearlymusic.com/festival.html

JUNE

Galway Regatta

Galway’s oldest rowing regatta takes place every June at NUIG Sports Grounds in Dangan just across from the Westwood Hotel. Celebrating 126 years, the Galway Regatta has always boasted the best of rowing in the city, in addition to attracting top rowers from the rest of Ireland. Galway enjoys a top position in Irish rowing due to the efforts of NUIG, Tribesmen, Galway, the Bish, and the Jes.

This popular annual regatta is hosted by the Galway Rowing Club. Traditionally one of the most colourful sporting events in the city since its inauguration in 1884 in the grounds of Menlo Castle, the regatta has its origins in rowing matches which took place between the Corrib Rowing and Yachting Club (founded 1864), and the Commercial Boat Club (founded 1875). These races became the Galway Regatta, and rowing on the Corrib reached its peak in 1929, when the Emmets won the IARU senior eights, a feat they repeated in 1931.

Spectators can view the racing from the NUIG grounds at Dangan.