The Galway Arts Festival starts today.

More than 150,000 visitors are expected to attend the Galway Arts Festival and are expected to spend more than €25 million at this year’s event.

Considered the festival of festivals, the event will run until Sunday, July 27th. Founded in 1978, the largest arts festival in Ireland has a programme spend of more than €2.3 million. This year there are 266 Irish and international acts in 35 venues in the city and surrounding areas, including the Aran Islands.

Some of my favourite artists are:

The Phillip Glass Ensemble. Phillip Glass is a composer of music with “repetitive structure”. Read his very interesting biography here. Philip Glass performs Solo Piano and chamber works including cellist Wendy Sutter playing “Songs & Poems for Solo Cello” at St. Nicholas Collegiate Church on July 15th.

Bill Viola. Bill is long considered a pioneer in the medium of video art and is internationally recognised as one of the world’s leading artists. Here is his boigraphy.

Omara Portuondo. This is the real deal. The 77-year-old singer whose duet with Ibrahim Ferrer was director Wim Wenders’s personal highlight of the Buena Vista film. That was when the rest of the world discovered her, but in Cuba she’s been a star since the 1950s. Have a listen to some of her music here. I love it. It reminds me of the time I spent in Havana a couple of years back.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The sound of New Orleans. Here’s more info.

Walker Evans (1903-1975) from Missouri, photographed scenes from the Great Depression. Look here for more info.

Visitors will get the chance to see concerts by KT Tunstall, Blondie, the Dandy Warhols, and Ash.

Comedians Ed Byrne, Des Bishop, and David O’Doherty will give you the chance to laugh your head off.

To see the complete line-up visit the Galway Arts Festival Website. This will be a great festival.