If arts festivals were horse races, the well-known annual jamboree in Edinburgh would already be at least a head behind a mega-event in Ireland - one that’s taken the sport-and-culture world by storm.

If arts festivals were horse races, the well-known annual jamboree in Edinburgh would already be at least a head behind a mega-event in Ireland - one that’s taken the sport-and-culture world by storm.

If you think that’s a lot of Blarney, consider we’re talking about the sort of spectacular which boasts “a creative collision at the edge of Europe” - that’s the Galway international arts festival, July 13 to 26.

But that’s not all, because immediately after this The Galway Racing Festival runs from June 27, offering a melange of top class thundering-hooves racecourse action as an accompaniment to leisurely hours of fabulous gourment food and magnificent entertainment.

Concentrating all this art and sport action in a huge premier league world class attraction has made charming Galway even hotter than Auld Reekie at the height of the Fringe.

The centrepiece of the shenanigans is obviously the Galway Racing itself, a seven day horse-fest of Ben Hur proportions which grabs attention far beyond the course- because these races can provide the sort of exploits history is made of.

They’re the kind of nail-biting contest where everything stops while the countless people far and wide who are having a flutter wait to see if they’ve backed a winner.

For the <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-ie/events/galway-festival" target="_blank" title="Galway Racing Festival 2015">Galway Racing Festival - check the top 2015 runners at William Hill online</a>.

To get an idea of the scale of the event, around 140,000 race goers attended last year’s festival, and there was a prize fund of 1.5 million Euros for the 52 races staged over the seven days.

This year it’s not impossible that attendance could rocket still higher, because there’s everything from traditional pubs to leading edge arts and music to enjoy, even before you consider the dazzling gourmet food in fabulous Galway restaurants.

Then there’s the fashion - another reason that’s been persuading legions of discerning lady race goers to spend some time in one of the few places that can rival glamorous Dublin.

However subtract all this massively popular entertainment and you still have seven whole days of mesmerising equine skill to enjoy.

It’s a great place to be, with one over-arching crowd-puller at the centre of things, while for those who can’t be there it’s still a sound option to check <a rel="nofollow" href="http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en-ie/betting/y/9/Horse-Racing.html" target="_blank" title="Glaway Racing Festival 2015">top notch horse racing options online</a>.

The racing may be wrapped up in a magnificent tourism attraction, but the Galway Racing Festival is worth the serious attention it gains from experienced horse racing fans - and its dozens of races provide endless opportunity to study form and reckon the odds <img style="width: 750px; height: 499px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="/media/1022/rsz_horse_racing_1.jpg?width=750px&height=499px" alt="Galway Race Festival 2015" rel="86757" />