Gigs, drama, art, dance... 10 highlights of Galway Arts Festival

 Galway International Arts Festival runs  July 14–27. From Druid’s 50th anniversary celebrations to the magic of Planete Vapeur’s monumental insects, here some of the must-sees 

Tommy Tiernan and Aaron Monaghan in The Cave, by Kevin Barry, one of the theatre offerings at Galway International Arts Festival. Picture: Ros Kavanagh

1 Theatre Druid, Riders to the Sea & MacBeth: The Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane July 10 - 26 

Druid theatre company presents a double bill of JM Synge’s Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare’s MacBeth. Both are directed by Druid founder Garry Hynes, feature actress Marie Mullen, and are staged in the theatre named for the late Mick Lally. It is 50 years since the three established Druid as the first Irish professional theatre company outside Dublin, a landmark anniversary that is also celebrated in an exhibition of photographs by Joe O’Shaughnessy, at the Kenny Gallery on Tuam Road, covering the broad sweep of the ensemble’s achievements.