In 2014 I attended the Galway Arts Festival. The great thing about Ireland was that I could turn to the stranger sitting next to me and spend the next half hour discussing the play we’d just seen. In America, they’d think I was some kind of serial killer and leave. On my last night in Galway, I was walking back to my hotel after the play and realized I hadn’t discussed it with anyone. Just then, I guy on a bicycle screeched to to a stop and said, “Did you just see Ballyturk? What did you think of it?” I started talking and other guys on bicycles pulled up. We spent 40 minutes discussing the festival while standing on the side of the road.
It’s a great festival and the Irish are wonderful people. If you ever get a chance to go, do it.
I was also here in 2014 and ended a 16 day road trip at the festival. I have not been on a better trip and cannot say enough great things about the people, the art, and the food. Galway showcases all the art forms – saw bands, jugglers, stand up comics, painters, stilt walkers…but the grand finale of metal rock guitarists playing atop a metallic fire breathing 50 foot dragon through the smallish streets with thousands of strangers speaks to exactly what you mentioned, the people here are worth meeting.