Galway City Council took home the prestigious ‘Festival of the Year’ Award at the 2025 Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, announced at a national ceremony.
The ‘Galway Climate Inspirations Festival – Communities in Action’ festival beat off stiff competition.
The Festival re-imagines climate action as a positive, creative, and community-led movement. It aims to move away from fear-based messaging and instead celebrate community-led climate action through art, culture, and collaboration. It aims to harness Galway’s theatrical, musical, artistic, sporting, and culinary traditions, as well as its Gaeilge heritage, to inspire climate action.
Mayor of the City of Galway, Cllr Mike Cubbard says the Galway Climate Inspirations Festival sets a precedent for integrating cultural engagement with environmental initiative – as the first climate festival organised by a local authority. It advances Galway’s climate action plan goals and positions the City as a leader in innovative climate action”.
Four Galway City Council projects were shortlisted in the 22nd Annual Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, which recognise and celebrate the outstanding work carried out by Local Authorities all over Ireland. The four shortlisted entries were: Galway Climate Inspirations Festival, CREW Galway, Youth Lates, and Ireland’s first city-centre School Street at Scoil Iognáid.
