[1] In 2000 was described by the Sunday Times as "one of the 12 greatest shows on earth"[2] and was listed in the 1987 AA Travel Guide as one of Europe's Seven Best Festivals.
[citation needed] Hotel manager Brian Collins had been searching for something to attract more visitors to Galway, in what was then a quieter month of the year.
Collins discussed the idea with representatives of Guinness and of Patrick M. Burke's Bar in Clarenbridge and the first Galway Oyster Festival was created in 1954.
[1] There was a red and white striped marquee at Spanish Arch and then at Nimmo's Pier by the Claddagh.
[4] In 2014, the 60th anniversary of the event, it returned to its original Galway City Fishmarket at the Spanish Arch.