Check out the opening parade at noon on Saturday
A parade of marching bands, vintage cars, and Pearls (young and old beauties) create a main street spectacle that will make you feel like you’ve reentered your hometown. While many of the festival events like the Mardi Gras Party and Gala Ball are pricey, this family event is free.
Come with an appetite
Learn to taste only small portions (share with others if necessary). You want to pace yourself, never feeling quite full, because you never know what the next dish you’ll be offered will be.
Slow down on the booze
Speaking of pacing yourself, a little goes a long way, and combining day drunkenness with too many oysters leads to unpleasant gastric surprises.
It’s not all about eating
Take in a cooking class or watch celebrity chefs knife it out in cook-offs. Well, maybe it is all about eating.
Shannon Airport (SNN)
Ireland is an incredibly easy country to get to and travel within. For this festival, you’ll fly to and pick up a rental car to get to Galway, about a twenty-minute drive. Or, you can take a charter flight from Shannon on to Galway’s airport, a more expensive option.
Longer visit
Consider staying before or after the Galway festival. Head south to the Dingle Peninsula, northeast to the Giant’s Causeway, East to visit ruins in the center of the country (or farther on to Dublin), or take a ferry east to roam about the Aran Islands to get a sense of what life was like for ancient Celts on these rocky outcroppings in the North Atlantic.