Words: James ‘Ibbo’ Ibbotson

Photos: Aleksei Mzhachev

James ‘Ibbo’ Ibbotson

Bio

James or ‘Ibbo’ is a kayak freestyle athlete representing Great Britain at international competitions. He has many years experience working in the leisure industry and now works as the Content and Campaigns Officer at British Canoeing.

The pilgrimage to… Galway Fest

Every year, at the start of March, over 200 paddlers make the pilgrimage to the west coast of Ireland, to the city of Galway, to participate in one of the biggest whitewater events of the year. Galway Fest is a beautiful mixture of freestyle, time trial racing, team racing, boater X (or kayak cross, as some call it), and partying.

Now in its 12th edition, Aoife Hanrahan, Barry Loughnane, and their team have transformed the event from a local gathering to a world-famous event that sells out in just 34 seconds! They have worked hard to make it appealing and inclusive to those at all stages of their paddling careers.

For 2024, the freestyle returned to Tuam, a firm favourite play spot for many Irish paddlers. Despite slightly low water, the Galway Fest team hustled hard and constructed some boards above the feature, diverting the water into the middle section of the hole. This ensured they had a great feature for beginners and the elite.

Expert paddlers
The day saw 27 heats of paddlers, all mixed together, take to the feature and throw their best moves. Scoring points for both official ICF-defined moves and bonus points for impressive fun moves, the paddlers looked to build up their scores and hit the top of the leaderboard. For the expert paddlers, a spot in the night’s finals was offered to the top six, and competition was fierce!

Some highlight tricks from throughout the day included massive loops, booty beer chugging, chocolatey bribes, flowing cartwheels, and, of course, Harry Potters. It was fantastic to see everyone getting into the spirit, overcoming fears for some, and having the best time out on the water. Of course, all eyes were on the live results that came rolling in at the end of each heat, with friendly rivalries between friends being the main focus.

Finals
The ladies’ expert finals kicked off as dusk rolled in and the atmosphere grew. The standard was high, and paddlers from the French, British, and Irish national teams made it through. Chief organiser Aoife set the standard on first runs, coming in with a score that doubled her closest rival. Beibhin Butler, also of the Irish team, showed her skills with a smooth second run, and Britain’s Tamsyn McConchie brought some of her ambitious, explosive style, too. That first run of Aoife’s took the win, which was well deserved. Second was scooped up by Beibhin, and the third was Tamsyn.

The men’s event came up next, and just making it to this final was an achievement in itself, as several veteran international paddlers missed out. The only Brit among the Irish was GB’s Nathan Hefford. Nathan’s unique and colourful kit stood out in the floodlights, especially as he threw his boat up in the air to make the most of the bonus points that were on offer. Barry Loughnane took a break from organising to showcase his freestyle prowess. His knowledge of his local spot was evident, knowing the perfect place to initiate each trick to maximise his time. However, current European Champion and team Ireland paddler David McClure put on a masterclass to take the win.

Six-minute sprint
As Saturday rolled around, it was time for the time trial, a six-minute sprint down the river through the middle of Galway City, ending in the dock amongst the old fishing boats. This was a real test of endurance; you could see it on some paddlers’ faces. The competition was fierce again, with the top 10 in some categories only seconds apart.

Stand-out performances came from Ollie Cooper on his debut, taking the men’s expert win by two seconds! The master’s women also put on a good show, demonstrating that their skills are ageing like fine wine. Aoife collected her second win of the weekend in the expert women’s class, sneaking ahead of Wale’s Emily Davies by just 0.5 of a second!

The day’s paddling was rounded off with the carnage of the team race. Six paddlers of mixed ability worked as a team to race down the river in the fastest time. The biggest challenge was the finish line. Paddlers had to jump out of their boats, and all six paddlers had to touch a chair on the slipway. However, as the teams finished, they sabotaged the following teams, resulting in swims, drifting boats, and lots of laughs. This event has become a firm favourite across the years and never fails to entertain.

Party night
Saturday night was the big party night, where all the senior paddlers and volunteers took over a popular bar in the city and enjoyed themselves. The chance to impress with dance moves and catch up with friends rarely seen. However, this often leads to many sore heads the following morning.

Sunday morning, and sure enough, a few delicate souls were making their way to the river for the mass start race. Groups of up to 40 paddlers would all set off simultaneously and race down a narrow channel, onto the river, and to the finish line. This is a race that is great to both watch and be a part of. You watch the battle for position as paddlers drop into the channel, then the fight to keep that position as they pop out onto the much wider main river.

Boater X
Boater X was the main event for Sunday. Some classic head-to-head racing that starts with a mad dash to be ahead for the immediate Jury’s drop. From there, it was a tough race to a buoy on the river right that had to be negotiated, then return to the river left for the finish line. Some gruelling paddling for even the experts!

In the opening heats, upsets were few and far between, as those expected to progress generally did, even if it was by the skin of their teeth! Then, as the semi-finals and finals began to roll in, tactics decided the winners. In the intermediate women’s class, Fiona Denvir went from last to progressing to the semi-finals in one quick swoop.

There was drama in the expert finals at the very start as Aoife went hard, got spun out, and was pinned above Jury’s drop. This gave Emily Davies an opening, and she took full advantage, opening herself up a solid lead into the buoy. Aoife, Tamsyn, Cleo, Ciara, and Beibhin worked hard and made up some ground on Emily. But the race was won at the start; Emily took the win. Despite her pin, Aoife took second, and Cleo stole third from under Beibhin’s nose.

The men’s expert race wrapped up the weekend’s paddling, and it came down to a video review from the officials! Nobody could pull away from the pack, and the positions changed every other paddle stroke. It all came down to how cleanly paddlers pulled into the final eddy to touch the finish banner with their hands (a key detail). It was a polo paddler who showed their ability to battle through crowds that came out on top, and Mark Skuce won. The speed demon from the time trial, Ollie Cooper, used that speed to his advantage, giving him second place.

Video replay
Third place was more of a battle where officials needed video replay to ratify the results. Lucien Schreiber had a good line into the eddy and looked set to take a podium place. That was until Jiri Tykal of Radical Riders picked his line perfectly, sailing between Lucien and the banner. Lucien realised he had to fully commit to get his result, and Jiri saw power as the only option. Lucien drove for the banner, abandoning his paddles and stretching for the banner as he flipped over. The video replay came up in Lucien’s favour as it showed his fingertips just brushing the banner before Jiri made firm contact with it.

King and Queen of Galway Fest 2024
All that was left to do was dish out some amazing prizes that the event sponsors generously donated and crown the King and Queen of Galway Fest 2024. These results were pulled together as an accumulation of paddlers freestyle, time trial, and boater x results, rewarding the most consistent paddlers.

The ladies winner came as no surprise; with two wins and a second place, Aoife Hanrahan took the crown, defending the title she won in 2023. The men were closer, but not by much. Barry Loughnane had come second in freestyle and the time trial, then 5th in the boater X, giving him the crown. Debutant Ollie Cooper was close behind him in second place and is one to watch at next year’s event!

So that was Galway Festival 2024, a big weekend of paddling, laughs, and friends. Congratulations to the winners and Aoife, Barry and their team on smashing another fantastic event! It is an event that all paddlers need to experience if they can, and it is one that I have done five times now and hope to do many more!

2025
The 2025 edition will be from the 28th of February – the 2nd of March, so put it on your calendar! Keep up to date with when tickets will come on sale via their Instagram, and you’ll also see pictures and videos of events that happened in the past. See you next year!