Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival is the oldest oyster festival in the world and the most internationally recognised Irish festival after St Patrick’s Day.   Deemed one of Europe’s longest-running food extravaganzas, the  Festival was launched in September 1954 by Brian Collins, the manager of the Great Southern Hotel (now called Hotel Meyrick).  That year just 34 guests attended the first Oyster Festival Banquet and feasted on several dozen oysters each. These days, the event is one of the biggest on Ireland’s social calendar, drawing more than 22,000 visitors in 2012 who gleefully downed tons of the famous native Galway Oysters.  Over the last 62 years, the Irish food festival has featured prominently in the media including Bon Appétit Magazine, BBC Good Food, Food & Wine magazine, Easy Food Magazine, Time Magazine, Travel & Leisure Magazine, Conde Nast, The New York Times, The Sunday Times, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Image Magazine, Fodors, The Lonely Planet Guide and The Rough Guide amongst many, many more.   It has been described by the Sunday Times as “one of the 12 greatest shows on earth” and was listed in the AA Travel Guide one of Europe’s Seven Best Festivals.