As a Galway native I always enjoy a visit home and Galway city was at its vibrant best last weekend with the Galway Arts Festival in full flight. With such a large and diverse programme of festival events coupled with all the fringe events that take place in the city during the festival the biggest problem I faced was where to go and what to see!
Festivals such as the Galway Arts Featival are vital to the economy of a city and region. It is estimated that the festival generates revenue of €20 million for the region. Galway Hotels are full, restaurants are packed and shops, bars, street traders, taxis all have an opportunity to avail of the extra income being spent. I thought to myself it would also be a fantastic time for an incentive group to head to Galway and avail of the plethora of Irish artists and performers. Galway is such a great city to walk around that you can’t go more than a few short steps before there are more examples of the talent that Ireland is producing at the moment. The Venue Finder at FindaConferenceVenue.com – Ciara Feely is currently trying to secure a group of TV producers from the US who travel to different Art and Film Festivals around the world – they attend some of the more famous festivals such as Cannes. However,Irish Festivals would offer a fresh and unique experience for corporate and incentive groups while providing world class entertainment.
The Galway Arts Festival provides the perfect forum for new and up and coming artists to get their name out there to a much bigger audience than they would normally have access to. The smart bands, performers and artists perform in Galway during the arts festival and while it might not be part of the official programme, with the right advertisement they can attract a large audience as the city is full to capacity with visitors who all want to see a good show!
Intinn and Rootical Sound System -2 Galway acts- held one such fringe event on Saturday. I decided that in lieu of any real sunshine I would up my feel good vibes by dancing the night away to some great home grown Reggae. Intinn a brilliant Celtic Dub band took to the stage at 21 Eglinton Street playing their unique mix of conscious Reggae and Drum & Bass. They had amazing energy and quickly had everyone dancing. Their harp player Catriona Cannon adds a beautiful element to the bands look and sound. It’s great to see a traditional Irish instrument in such a contemporary setting. Intinn were followed by Rootical Sound System who provided the perfect sound track to keep the party going into the early hours.
Tips for marketing yourself at a festival –
My tips for bands, artists or performers looking to make a name for themselves on the festival circuit.
- Make a wish list of all the festivals you would like to perform at.
- Make contact early – many festivals start planning the following year’s festival as soon as the current year’s festival is over – if the festival is on in July your application may well need to be in the previous October or November so get organised.
- Be willing to work for free – many festivals do not pay new or unknown performers – instead providing free passes to events and of course invaluable free advertisement and access to a much wider audience than you would normally have.
- Put on a free or budget friendly priced show – If your application is unsuccessful then try and book yourself a gig in a venue that is adjacent to the main festival hub – many people will not be able to get tickets to the main events or perhaps can’t afford a large ticket fee so would be only delighted to attend your show instead of the main event.
- Get creative with your advertisement – there are all sorts of free social media available so make sure you have a Facebook page, MySpace page, blog and Twitter account and advertise your show to the masses without spending a penny.
Ciara Norman- Project Manager, FindaConferenceVenue.com
