Celebrate Galway’s green spaces and blue waters this year at the first ever Lovin Galway sustainability and biodiversity festival this September.
Loving Galway is all about getting people to think about the network of ‘Green and Blue’ spaces that make up out city
The canal network that veins its way through the city, and the mighty artery of the Corrib that leads out into Galway Bay and up county into Lough Corrib.
It does more than just flow through the city, this shared waterway connects the city with the many places in Galway that sit on its shores and share in its use.
Then there’s the green spaces that need protecting within the city limits like Terryland forest park, Merlin Park, and the wooded areas on NUI Galway’s campus.
Areas that support the wildlife that thrives within the city boundaries.
Galway city council, Galway city Community Network, NUIG, LAWCO, Galway Waterways and other environmental and community networks are putting together a festival that embraces the flora and fauna thriving with the city, while promoting sustainable environmental practices.
The festival builds on decades of activity by the City’s environmental community and is a legacy of Galway’s European Green Leaf designation in 2017.
Arlene Finn, European Green Leaf Coordinator said, “This festival committee is a unique collaboration featuring a range of organisations, groups and agencies and we are delighted to be working together to deliver a truly unique festival in celebration of all that is wonderful about Galway’s ‘Green and Blue’ spaces,”
“From Blue Flag beaches overlooking Galway Bay, to the intricate canal network, the mighty Corrib river, the lungs of the city in Terryland Forest and Merlin Woods, right down to our own back gardens.”
Running for ten days from September 20-30, at Lovin Galway the kids will lead the way as Youth Work Ireland Galway host a Zero Waste Youth seminar on the 26th, and 200 secondary students will cycle through the city for Green Schools.
Joining up with the Oyster Festival on September 30, there will be workshops, stalls, and talks for ‘Sunday Funday’.
And at Terryland Forest Park an exhibition will celebrate 18 years of arts projects in the woodland.
According to Ann Irwin, Galway City Community Network, “Ultimately the festival is about promoting environmental sustainability in Galway. We must protect our unique biodiversity in Galway city and promote a lifestyle that is friendlier to the environment.”
Arlene Finn concluded, “The ‘Loving Galway’ festival is a reminder of the need to protect and care for our green and blue spaces so they can continue to be spaces to work, rest, and play, giving us our drinking water, the food we eat and the air we breathe.”
All events for the Lovin Galway festival will be free and open to all, and a full programme will be published in August.
There’s still more than enough time to get involved in this celebration of Galway’s biodiversity by organising an event of your own.
Even something as small as a guided walk through one of the city’s many natural areas.
To get involved contact Arlene Finn at Greenleaf@galwaycity.ie or Ann Irwin at info@galwaycitycommunitynetwork.ie.
