This thoughtfully made video captures the essence of the Galway Races perfectly.
The 150th Anniversary of the Galway Races Transcript
Hundreds of sidecars from all over the country would gallop up and down, night and day. The impact that the races had on Galway.
The first Galway Races were in August 1869
You really couldn’t knock on a door at all, in the old parts of Galway that doesn’t have some association with the races.
There was two events in Galway over the years. One was the races and the other was Christmas.
Galway Races and the roar from the crowd
Galway is a a fantastic racecourse when you could hear the roar from the crowd. It’s unbelievable. There’s not many tracks in Ireland where you can get to ride in front of 50 or 60,000 people.
Galway Races memories
And my first big win in Galway was in 2003, I’ll never forget that day, it was a huge boost to my career.
It was a three day week, 40 plus years ago. So we used to come to Galway for the summer holidays, but the highlight of the holiday was always race week.
Our mother used to bring us out to the races and we’d have a sort of a picnic. There’s an old castle there on the outside. You know, we’d sit around and see the horses going by.
I suppose my earliest memory would be the swinging boats in the free area. The anticipation of that, and it was just, it was great fun.
We just ourselves have our own Galway races. Maybe 10, 15 or 20 of us. One guy would be the horse and the other guy would be the jockey. And we set up courses and jumps and we ran. That was the effect it had on us.
The Galway Races 2019 festival & biggest prize money to date
The Galway Races is 150 years old this year. We’ve got the biggest prize money ever on offer 2.3 million. We have a huge festival put together, so there’s gonna be a great feel around Ballybrit this year.
The buzz of Galway, the whole atmosphere. It’s such a big occasion to have in the west of Ireland. When you see the amount of people that it brings to this side of country, it’s just amazing.
The Galway Races, it’s going all out. There’s no exception.
It’s only then that you can make something really different.
It’s nationwide. Fun, fashion and reunions.
Fire in your belly. It’s like the anticipation of Santa Claus coming. It’s the annual Mecca for meeting friends and family.
That’s what the Galway Races is all about actually. Just coming together and enjoying the day and the week.
Long may it last.
Creative credits:
This video was commissioned by the Galway Races and beautifully produced by Heavy Man Films.
The end of the video also features a list of the contributors, each who played an integral part in this feature.
Galway is undoubtedly one of the best cities to go out in, meet friendly people and find lots of great events and culture. Here you will find some of the best of what’s on in Galway today.
What’s On In Galway Today
Check out what’s on in Galway today. In the city that is famous for its “craic agus ceol” (great fun and music), it won’t surprise you that there is lots of great live music in some of Galway’s fun bars (listings for those coming very soon, we have a few below) and much more besides.
