Galway city is a prime example of how the arts have help transform a once sleepy town into a thriving European cultural center. Last week the 30th annual Galway Arts Festival descended on the city of the tribes, and the unseasonably rainy streets were transformed by a riotous outdoor international carnival with all the sights and sounds to match. CAHIR O'DOHERTY reports from the fastest growing city in Europe, where lively arguments about the future of the Irish theatre are now as common as the next shower of rain.

HAVE you ever been attacked by a dinosaur? It's the first day of the Galway Arts Festival, and the towering stilt walkers are dressed like fast moving Tyrannosaurus, tearing through the crowd startling adults and small children. Anyone who sees them can't help but be dazzled and amazed.

This is not yawn inducing community drama; this is artistry of the highest level. And those stilt walkers aren't wearing the embarrassing papier-mch costumes so beloved by aging patchouli wearing hippies.

Instead they're completely hidden beneath outfits that make them look as though the prehistoric animals they are playing are terrifyingly real. Those dinosaurs actually roar at you as they pass by, their long tails rise and whip through the air. They look like they could take a bite out of you, they're that good.

The Galway arts community has always known how to get a rise out of the locals and now in the third decade of this highly anticipated annual festival they're showing no signs of flagging ardor for the job.

Visitors to the walled city will be immediately struck by the passion of the locals for their city theaters and for the performing arts in general. It's a fact that Galway people will literally stand in line for hours to secure tickets to a coveted performance, so it's obvious how seriously they take the arts there.

But there's nothing highbrow or stuffy about their attitude at all. They just enjoy a good show. It's that simple.

Luckily for them, they are spoiled for choice this year at the festival. The craic on the streets has got to be seen to be believed, because amid all the face masks and outlandish costumes, the well known streets have been completely transformed by the visiting actors, making the locals willing accomplices in the nightly masquerades.

Passersby stop and stare wide-eyed at the highly theatrical antics of groups like Dutch company Close-Act, who know how to create a sensation with their costumes and shows. How often do you see a horde of massive Tyrannosaurus Rex being driven with a whip through a winding Irish street like a prehistoric rodeo round up?

Viewers agreed that they had never witnessed street theater this spectacular in their lives before, and so it's clear that the Galway Arts Festival Artistic Director Paul Fahy and Managing Director John Crumlish are worth every euro they're being paid to curate and manage this wide ranging festival.

Dance, theater, performance art, gallery openings, book readings, music gigs, public lectures and talks, even stand up comedy - there's so much going on in Galway at any time during the day or night that you actually need a day planner to keep up with it.

Stepping into the well appointed arts festival offices just off Shop Street, the place has a heady battle station feel to it, and you can see that the events are being run on a tightly monitored schedule.

Already, reporters from Europe and the U.S. are getting in line to cover the world premieres, which this year include writer Pat McCabe's astonishing new play The Revenant at the Druid Theatre.

No wonder the festival organizers have announced record breaking ticket sales for the entire duration of the two week program, which ends on July 29. They are confidently projecting that it will mean *18 million for the city's coffers.

The welcome tourism bonanza is terrifically good news to a city and a nation that is currently being deluged by the heaviest summer rainfall in 60 years. Not that the weather seems to have put anyone off. The percentage of American and British accents on the city streets has got to have set a new record, too.

All told, over 150,000 people roam the lively streets during the festival, and not even the terrible dollar versus euro exchange rate could do anything to diminish their enthusiasm.

Even the dreaded cryptosporidium, the invisible little parasite that has recently contaminated the entire city's drinking water an unfortunate result of Galway's expansion outpacing its infrastructure - became just another familiar little green furry character in the legendary Galway street theatre company Macnas's parade during The Ninth Wonder of the World show.

This is a city that survived the unwanted attentions of Oliver Cromwell, after all, so how will a mere speed bump like having to brush your teeth with the aid of a Ballygowan spring water bottle upset them?

Galway people joke about the situation, but the council has made the resolution of the situation their top priority, so it's unlikely that the issue will be a topic next year.

If you haven't visited Galway in the last five years you will be startled by the changes. Now new shopping centers, top-flight gourmet food stores, award winning bakeries and delicatessens abound you'll be struck by the quality (when did Irish people suddenly become chefs?) and also by the major deals to be had here.

A really terrific lunch in Galway, depending on your taste, pocketbook and your willing to explore a bit, can run you anything from *5 to *25. The local farmer's market boasts delicious vegetarian home made curries that are the equal of anything you'll find in Bombay.

Nearby, ring doughnuts lightly fried in deep fat and served piping hot with a castor sugar glaze are a completely irresistible and inexpensive popular snack. Huge slabs of homemade bread with homemade pesto and chicken fillings, for example, will make you glad that the Irish and the Italians go together so well.

And the Galway bread shops, which feature every type of traditional baking from a humble batch loaf to the most elaborate French boule, are, without doubt, the best in the nation.

Quietly, but quite thoroughly, Galway has made itself a restaurant goers festival to rival its own arts festival. Do not miss McDonagh's famous fish and chip shop on Quay Street. The fish is bought at market in the morning and served with the most satisfying chips we ever tasted by early evening. In fact, it's worth your while to fly the Atlantic just to savor this place.

Getting to Galway now couldn't be easier now either. Just take a quick flight on Aer Lingus to Shannon and then hire a rental car or take the regularly scheduled Bus Eireann direct (they've recently upgraded their bus fleet and the new weirdly futuristic looking 21st century coaches are both eye catching and thankfully very comfortable).

Alternatively, you now can fly to Ireland West Airport in Knock, Co. Mayo on Flyglobespan and within an hour of landing you'll be at your hotel door in Galway's city center.

The Harbour Hotel, located on New Dock Street is a particularly affordable and central venue, boasting a top of the line full treatment spa for those in a mind to pamper themselves thoroughly.

From bookstores you can spend the whole day in, to coffee shops that serve you a complimentary chocolate with each drink, Galway is as welcoming a place as you could hope to visit, but it's the world-class arts that have helped to lift it far above the rest. Don't miss it.