THE staging of ‘big name’ concerts at the old airport site at Carnmore next August could undermine the chances of the Galway International Arts Festival attracting major acts to their Big Top venue, it was claimed this week.

As revealed earlier this month in the Galway City Tribune, between six and 10 major concerts are planned by promoter MCD for the airport site, following on from the Arts Festival and the Races next year.

Already, international star Fatboy Slim has been confirmed for the avenue on Friday, August 9, 2024, with a 5,000-capacity limit for the covered marquee type event.

However, at their meeting in City Hall on Tuesday, a number of city councillors expressed concerns about the impact of the concerts on the Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF).

The issue was raised by Cllr Michael Crowe (FF) who said that while there was no evidence that the ‘airports concerts’ would be bad for the city, they were a threat in the context of Galway’s Arts Festival.

He added that the concerts, which were due to take place in a three-week period after the Galway Races, could impact on the ability of GIAF to secure major acts for their Big Top in the Fisheries Field.

“Our obligation as city councillors is to the city of Galway and if one big promoter has a monopoly on all the big acts, how will this impact on the chances of the Arts Festival on getting such events.

“The Big Top concerts help to sponsor a lot of other free smaller events around the city and there is no way that the County Council should have the power – on their own – to decide what goes on at the airport site,” said Cllr Crowe.

He was supported by a number of other councillors including his party colleague, Cllr Peter Keane, who seconded a motion from Cllr. Crowe that the concerts in August 2024 be limited to six – the motion  was passed at the meeting by 10 votes to 3.

Pictured: Galway Airport