This year's Galway arts festival programme has just been announced. I must say the music line up is disappointing, with a distinct singer-songwriter theme but not a lot of rock n' roll thrills promised this year . Having said that, Linton Kwesi Johnson should be a highlight while the Waterboys and Ron Sexsmith will certainly deliver value for money. Besides those gigs, I suspect the shows by Karan Casey and Erin McKeown could be something special.

Outside of music, the event which catches my eye is the multimedia presentation by acclaimed US cartoonist and fellow blogger Tom Tomorrow. It sounds like it could be a fun night.

Overall, I'm delighted to see less of an emphasis on the big-spectacle performace theatre which has dominated in previous years and which in my opinion has generally been crap. Indeed, the inclusion this year of a series of new locally produced productions is a very healthy development.