4 Best Performing Arts in County Clare, Galway, and the Aran Islands, Ireland

Ireland's theatrical hub outside the capital, the Druid has pioneered Galway's identity as a center for the arts. Playwright Martin McDonagh debuted here along with many other playwrights. The Druid showcases 20th-century Irish and European plays and is considered a pioneer in the development of Irish theater. Its players have toured extensively and performed at Lincoln Center in New York, and several London venues. The Druid regularly presents a production at Galway Arts Festival in late July.

Ennis comes alive with the beat of the bodhrán for eight days at the end of May in one of Ireland's greatest traditional music festivals. It offers workshops, concerts, trad sessions, parades, and street performances, as well as the opportunity to mix with locals.

Book ahead to avoid staying in the periphery.

An internationally renowned, roving Galway-based troupe of performance artists, Macnas has raised street theater in Ireland to new levels. While their participation in the July Arts Festival's parade is always much anticipated, it's their broody, giant-scale procession at the Galway Aboo Halloween parade that's the annual highlight.

The sleepy town of Miltown Malbay has woken up every July since 1973 to the sound of harps, tin whistles, and uilleann pipes. The weeklong Willie Clancy Summer School, named after the legendary piper, is the largest of its kind in Ireland, with 135 daily workshops and a full program of recitals, concerts, and dances open to the public.