The cancellation of a massive outdoor concert last July has prompted Galway Arts Festival to seek planning permission to stage similar events in the future.
They propose to stage one major outdoor rock concert at the Castlegar Sports Grounds each summer, at the venue where Radiohead topped a hugely successful bill before an audience of 18,000 in July 1996.
If the application is successful, the Arts Festival will be allowed to by-pass the planning regulation troubles which resulted in the forced cancellation of the Big Day Out in July and numerous other summertime events over the past two years.
The issue came to a head some months ago when the festival was informed that an outdoor concert at Castlegar was not exempt from the 1994 Planning and Development Regulations.
Galway Arts Festival's manager, Mr Fergal McGrath, said a huge concert would help finance the biggest-ever festival in the city when it celebrates its 21st anniversary next summer.