Margaret Atwood has announced another event in Ireland next year as the official programme for Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture has been announced.

The official programme of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture was launched today [Wednesday] by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan and Chairperson, Arthur Lappin along with Creative Director of Galway 2020 Helen Marriage, at a large open-air event in Eyre Square, Galway. Among the incredible events announced, it was confirmed that Margaret Atwood will be taking part in International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8. The event, Wild Atlantic Women, will be presented by Galway 2020 in association with Galway Public Libraries. It will see the Canadian author talk to writer Susan McKay about her remarkable career, why The Handmaid’s Tale has become a symbol of women’s struggle against oppression and the inspiration for her extraordinary new book, The Testaments. Galway 2020 is the largest and most complex cultural event ever undertaken on the island of Ireland comprising of over 1,900 events across 154 projects, 170 partnerships and collaborations with local, national, European and international artists and cultural organisations from over 30 different countries. The ambitious programme will take place across the villages, towns, islands and city of Galway and, in recognition of Ireland’s historic traditions, will be based around the four fire seasons of Ireland’s ancient Celtic calendar Imbloc, Bealtaine, Lughnasa and Samhain. Galway 2020 will begin on February 1 with week-long fiery celebrations erupting in towns and villages across the county, culminating in a large public ceremony and spectacle on February 8 in Galway city. Seasonal ceremonies will mark the progression of the Galway 2020 programme, which will run through until the end of January 2021. To celebrate the end of a momentous 12 months for Galway as European Capital of Culture, the closing event will transform Galway into a glittering gallery without walls. A selection of other events taking place include:

• Connemara landscape will be illuminated in epic spectacle by Finnish light artist Kari Kola
• Druid Theatre takes Ireland’s greatest 20^th century one-act plays to towns and villages across Galway county
• American artist David Best, of Burning Man fame, to create major new work with young people from Derry and Galway
• Giant Mirror Pavilion by Irish artist John Gerrard set in 4,000 year--old Connemara bog
• Dramatic new interpretation of literary epic Gilgamesh by Galway master storytellers Macnas, written by Marina Carr and designed by Julian Crouch
• J M Synge, a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival, co-founder of the Abbey Theatre, celebrated in major new festival in Galway and Aran Islands
• Homer’s Odyssey presented on tour of beaches of Galway
• Crossing the Line Festival, a pan-European festival of outstanding work made by Irish and European artists with intellectual disabilities
• Galway joins with Boston, Belfast and Nashville to host concerts by transatlantic stars of country, blues, gospel, folk and bluegrass
• Galway’s multiple music and theatre festivals participate in Galway 2020 with enhanced programmes
• Unsung Project to explore, through immersion in light and sound, the lives of mothers and children who lived and died in state institutions

The European Capital of Culture (ECOC) is a national designation and the initiative, which began in 1985, has developed into one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Europe. The goal of the project is to provide Europeans with opportunities to learn more about each other's cultures, to enjoy their shared history and values and to experience the feeling of belonging to the same European community.