A quick video of some of our 2020 exhibition, The New Normal, in the 2020 Hub, Cornstore Galway, and the streets of Galway!Full exhibition can be viewed online here.

UPDATE 07/10/20: EXCEPT FOR BUSINESSES ON OUR ART TRAIL ALL VENUES ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO LEVEL 3 COVID RESTRICTIONS. PLEASE VIEW OUR MAIN EXHIBITION ONLINE HERE! WE WILL UPDATE AS THE SITUATION ALLOWS. Here is the map for the Art Trail and Venues involved in the Galway Cartoon Festival 2020! Click to embiggen!

Here’s a video roundup of the launch of the 2020 Galway Cartoon Festival exhibition: The New Normal. Thanks to everyone who helped make this year such a success, we really felt the City getting behind us and we’re already planning next year!

Galway Cartoon Festival exhibition in Europe’s most westerly Arts Centre! Galway Cartoon Festival is grateful to Dara McGee for opening this exhibition.

Covid Level 3 Restriction Updates UPDATE 04/12/20: Good news! With the easing of restrictions we are having an extended Festival! The exhibition in the Galway 2020 Cornstore Galway Hub will continue from Tuesday 8th December for ONE WEEK and the exhibition in Áras Éanna Arts Centre is open NOW UNTIL CHRISTMAS! PLEASE VIEW OUR MAIN

We were able to put together a small pot this year to recognise one cartoon that was judged to best capture the theme of the Galway Cartoon Festival’s main 2020 exhibition, The New Normal. We asked artist Ted Turton to judge this for us (Ted also launched the exhibition). The winner is Brandon Hicks for

As part of Cúirt 2021, Galway Cartoon Festival will be responding to the Ashford Castle events and you’ll be able to see the resulting cartoons online! Renowned editorial cartoonist Graeme Keyes and queen of quirky line Caoimhe Lavelle will be responding to the themes discussed and the authors discussing them during this series of events

Public Participation In 1915 Welsh artist Augustus John visited Galway. He began work on a large mural based on the inhabitants of Galway City. He hoped to make ‘a vast picture synthesizing all that’s fine and characteristic in Galway City – a grand marshalling of the elements’. In 2021 Galway Cartoon Festival is going to

Is mian le Féile Cartún na Gaillimhe cuireadh a thabhairt do chartúnaithe a bhíonn ag obair trí mheán na Gaeilge a saothar a chur isteach le haghaidh eagrán na bliana seo d’Fhéile Cartún na Gaillimhe. Tá an téama lánoscailte do thaispeántas na Gaeilge agus déanfar cartúin ar bith i nGaeilge a mheas le cur san

Massive thanks to Mayor of Galway Cllr Colette Connolly for attending and speaking, to Gerry Hanberry for the music, to Vinny Brown for officially launching us and judging, and to everyone who attended!

“Drawing The Line” It is with huge thanks to everyone who sent work for consideration that we announce the artists who were chosen for our 2022 open international exhibition, “Drawing The Line”. Alagon Italy Andrey Selivanov Russia Aongus Collins Ireland Bahman Jalali Nokandeh Iran Brandon Hicks Canada Brady Izquierdo Rodríguez Cuba Ciaraíoch Ireland Cristina Sampaio

The main exhibitions of the Galway Cartoon Festival 2022 are still open, but must close soon. Now is your last chance to see… Marilena Nardi – The Drawings of Tomorrow Town Hall Theatre Bar 12:00pm – 5pm Marilena Nardi teaches illustration and artistic anatomy at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, and her mastery

Cristina Sampaio, literally one of the best cartoonists in the world, will talk about how she turns an idea into one of her unforgettable images. Anyone working in art or the media can learn something from her methods. Cava Bodega, Middle Street, 4:00 Arrive early. If it’s not unnecessary to say, the show will be

Solo Exhibition, Town Hall Theatre Opens Friday October 4,12:30pm Dean Patterson has been a great friend of the Galway Cartoon Festival from the beginning, being there on our first opening night. In the years since he grown in stature to become one of the most respected, and funniest, cartoonists in all of Ireland. His work

Our Theme Exhibition Mediaeval Wall, Eyre Square Shopping Centre Exhibiton – Free Entry It’s that time of year again. Shadows grow so long they can reach behind you and tap your shoulder. Yes, Samhain is coming. When trees get naked, winds skitter and skirl, and the dead take their holidays in the land of the

Freestyle Exhibition Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square Free Entry The “Show Me What You Got” of Galway Cartoon Festival events. The rules go out the window on this one. We just want artists around the world to send us their own favourite work. We don’t care if it’s only really topical in Venezuela, or if

FREAK OUT! PorterShed a Dó, Market Street 2.00pm, Saturday 4th October. Free Entry We are honoured to introduce you to one of the true masters of the Underground Comix movement, Gilbert Shelton. Breaking onto the scene in the early ’60s with superhero parody Wonder Wart-Hog, Gilbert really made it big with characters that fondly but

Featured Irish Cartoonist Exhibition: Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square Opening 11.30am, Saturday 4th October Talk: Portershed a Dó 2.00-3.00pm, Sunday 5th October. Free Entry This year we point the spotlight at Ian Knox, who has had – and indeed is still having – one of the most extraordinary careers in Irish cartooning. Born in Belfast,

AND IT IS A TRIP! PorterShed a Dó, Market Street 4.00pm, Sunday 5th October. Free Entry Brendan McCarthy is an artist/writer who has been published widely, with over 10 graphic novels to his credit such as Dream Gang, Rogan Gosh and Strange Days. He has designed or written for Hollywood movies, including the Oscar-winning Mad

Exhibition Mediaeval Wall, Eyre Square Shopping Centre Created During the Festival. Free Entry Andy Leuenberger is a Berlin comic artist, producing and self-publishing the retro-SciFi comic Dead Time Data since 2021. He also regularly self-publishes satirical cartoon/comic/art/zine/whatever books. His drawings, screen-prints and books have been presented in exhibitions and festivals for micropublishing, screen printing and

A Conference Among the factors that brought the Galway Cartoon Festival into being, perhaps most catalytic was the murder of twelve people – five of them cartoonists – at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical newspaper in Paris. A thing like that can change a when to a now. Ten years on we look

Exhibition PorterShed a Dó, Market Street Free Entry As a backdrop to our conference, we are holding a special exhibition of work by leading cartoonists from France, Ireland, and many other countries. Some of the works on display were created in immediate response to the tragedy. Others were drawn recently, with the benefit of a

Our Friends in Lyon Ça Presse is an association dedicated to media education with a particular focus on editorial cartooning, and works with both adult and school audiences to teach media literacy and sharpen critical thinking tools. They organise the Rencontres Internationales du Dessin de Presse in Lyon, and in March this year a special

Classes de Maîtres We are fortunate to be joined by two excellent French Press cartoonists who will show us the reality of their artistic process – all the way from coming up with a new idea to delivering a finished drawing by the deadline. Thibaut Soulcié Masterclass PorterShed a Dó, Market Street 2.30-4.00pm, Friday, 3rd

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION PorterShed a Dó, Market Street 4.00pm, Saturday 4th October The heart of our conference will be a round-table discussion, where cartoonists will voice their reflections on the past, their concerns for the present, and their hopes. The Ça Presse team from Lyon will take part, as will several of our guest artists

Exhibition and Talk PorterShed a Dó, Market Street Talk: 5.30pm, Saturday 4th October Tignous (Bernard Verlhac) was a much-loved star of French cartooning, who began to contribute to Charlie Hebdo, Fluide Glaciale, Marianne and other major comic and satirical publications at the age of 23. While his work covered about any social or political issue

A Film By Someone Who Was There, Almost Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Middle Street 6:30pm, Saturday 4th October Antonio Fischetti was a journalist at Charlie Hebdo. On January 7th, 2015 he escaped the attack thanks to a series of bizarre circumstances. Once the shock had passed, he was forced to do some soul-searching to give meaning

The Galway Cartoon Festival has a close relationship with the Aran island of Inis Oírr (Inisheer), in particular its Áras Éanna Arts Centre. Here we show our Irish language cartoon exhibition Tarraing É I nGaeilge, as well as work created by artists who take up our residency there. We also organise cartoon workshops in Irish

Artists In Residence on Inis Oírr Lucie Arnoux Born in Marseille but moving to London more than a decade ago, Lucie has been published in both countries, and writes, draws and colours for the comics series Enola Holmes – now in 15 languages. The autobiographical Je Ne Sais Quoi (Random House) was awarded graphic novel

Draw it in Irish Exhibition Áras Éanna, Inis Oírr Eyre Square Center, Galway Free Entry Mar chuid den fhéile, beidh taispeántas de chartúin as Gaeilge ar siúl i gCathair na Gaillimhe agus ar Inis Oírr. Seo é an séú taispeántas bliantúil de Tarraing é i nGaeilge, agus seolfar é in Áras Éanna (Inis Oírr) ar

Building A Wall To Break Down Barriers It began as the shared dream of some NGOs – Europeans Without Borders, Cartooning for Peace, Reporters Without Borders – but soon found the hearts of young volunteers, many from underprivileged neighbourhoods outside Paris. Following their example, we will cover walls in cartoons to raise awareness of the

Comic Workshop Sub-City, Corbett Court 12.30-2.00pm, Friday 3rd October Author of hit graphic novel Je Ne Sais Quoi and contributor to the bestselling Enola Holmes series, Lucie is a highly skilled comic creator. She gave us a couple of very popular comic art workshops last year, and returns now as one of our Artists in

With Hunt Emerson Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop. Middle Street 12.00-1.00pm, Friday 3rd October We’re doing it for the kids once more, in Charlie Byrne’s bookshop. And this time the Festival team will be aided by the fabulous Hunt Emerson. Hunt is one of Britain’s greatest comic artists, famous for his “underground” work since the 1970s, the

Radisson RED Galway (H91 H5PX) 10.30-11.30am, Sunday 5th October Have your face ridiculed by some of the best in the business! You can join our cartoonist guests for a morning caricature session at Galway’s new Radisson Red hotel. And maybe take a pencil along and join in. Bring your friends. Or better yet, enemies. To

Centre of the Festival Universe Tigh Neachtain, 17 Cross Street 7.00-8.30pm, Sunday 5th October 7.30-Late, Wednesday 8th October And other times spontaneously When we wanted to choose a place where cartoonists could just run into each other, have a pint and do a drawing, it had to be Tigh Neachtain. Not only is it very

Where We Go Afterwards Galway Mechanics Institute, Middle St 7.30pm – Late, 3rd – 5th October Hang out with cartoonists at our official club, which takes place in the Galway Mechanics Institute (next to The Dough Bros), a genuine honest-to-goodness actual club that dates back to 1837. Here we’ll gather in the evening to draw,

Meet Some Great Artists Sub-City, Corbett Court 5.00-6.00pm, Sunday 5th October Meet underground comic artists in an underground comic shop. Some of the biggest names in the genre will be available to say hi and sign things at Sub-City, including Gilbert Shelton, Hunt Emerson, Brendan McCarthy, Andy Leuenberger and more. Comics available on the day,

Throughout the Festival Not Open To The Public As a way to bring cartoons to the community, the Festival organises cartooning workshops for schools. Many of these are through the medium of Irish. These are led by Caoimhe Lavelle and members of the team, and take place throughout the Festival as well as at other

CHANGE OF PROGRAMME PorterShed a Dó, Market Street 3:00pm, Sunday 5th October. Free Entry Unfortunately, American political cartoonist Jeff Danziger had to cancel at short notice for medical reasons. We wish him a full and speedy recovery. In his place, we are very fortunate to be able to bring you one of the biggest names

This year we thought we’d put some of our favourite cartoons from both main exhibitions out on the street where everyone can see them. Follow our Cartoon Trail from Charlie Byrne’s to Portershed A Dó. Title Translation Name Country Location Type Price Out For The Count Caoimhe Lavelle Ireland Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Middle St Original

The 2025 Galway Cartoon Festival was an amazing experience… Above all we want to thank the artists who gave us work to show here in Galway. You, and your work, are what we do this for. Chosen Artists Our Sponsors and Partners We also want to thank everyone who got involved. Our wonderful guests especially,