The chairman of the Arts Council, Mr Brian Farrell, described the Galway Arts Festival as a microcosm of all that is good in the arts in Ireland when he opened the 21st annual festival last night.
He commended the festival for facilitating access to the arts on a massive scale, while making sure that Galway's citizens see the arts as an essential part of their lives.
"During its 21 years of existence it has become a showcase for art of the highest quality, both Irish and international," he said.
"It has acted as a seed bed for a large number of dynamic, innovative arts organisations. It has established a local arts culture in which it is possible for the experimental and the unconventional to thrive."
He said that festivals such as Galway puncture the pretension that art is the preserve of the privileged few.
The artistic director of the festival, Mr Ted Turton, invited everyone to join the party.
After the opening, hundreds attended a free concert by the Japanese Kodo Drummers outside the new Black Box Theatre.
The festival gets fully into gear this evening with the opening of Don Juan by Footsbarn Theatre, followed by tomorrow night's opening of The Circus of Horrors.