Macnas

{{short description|Irish performance company}}

{{Primary sources|date=April 2008}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}

{{Use Irish English|date=June 2020}}

File:Macnas parade Galway - Savage Grace 2016.jpg

File:Macnas Street Parade At The Kilkenny Arts Festival August 14th.jpg 2013]]

Mácnas (pronounced mock-ness) is (Irish for 'frolicking'{{Cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/macnas|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): Mácnas}}) is a performance company based at the Fisheries Field in Galway, Ireland. Its public performances are noted for being "pioneering, inventive and radical" in style.{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/the-magic-behind-the-mask-as-magic-of-macnas-parade-looms-36261208.html|title=The magic behind the mask as magic of Macnas parade looms - Independent.ie|work=Independent.ie|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en}} The company has been credited with changing the nature of public entertainment in Ireland and is regarded as highly influential within the field of spectacle performance.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/talent-on-parade-1.182667|title=Talent on parade|work=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en-US}}

Founded in 1986, the company has performed in over 20 countries across the globe. Its parades have been a centre-point of Halloween, St. Patrick's Day and formerly Galway International Arts Festival festivities in Galway city, drawing crowds of up to 50,000 people on to the city streets.{{Cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2016/1030/828000-macnas/|title=Thousands turn out in Galway for Macnas parade|date=2016-10-30|work=RTE.ie|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en}}

Mácnas toured alongside U2 as part of the Zoo TV Tour in 1993.{{Cite web|url=http://www.canadanne.co.uk/heeds/|title=U2 Massive Heeds|last=Canadanne|website=www.canadanne.co.uk|access-date=2018-09-17}} The company simultaneously helped to ring in the new millennium in three cities: Galway (Eyre Square), Dublin (Merrion Square) and New York City (Times Square).

In March 2016, Mácnas performed at the opening ceremony of SXSW in Austin, Texas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/events/802543216540234|title=Macnas Street Performance - SXSW Official|website=www.facebook.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-17}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/irish-again-set-to-make-some-noise-as-sxsw-kicks-off-in-austin-1.2566199|title=Irish again set to make some noise as SXSW kicks off in Austin|work=The Irish Times|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en-US}} In November 2017, Macnas performed as the closing act in the Land of Green Ginger programme at Hull UK City of Culture 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-humber-41943613|title=Giant puppets march through Hull|date=2017-11-12|work=BBC News|access-date=2018-09-17|language=en-GB}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/dazzling-land-green-ginger-parade-763617|title=Dazzling Land of Green Ginger parade bewitches thousands|last=Corcoran|first=Sophie|date=2017-11-11|work=Hull Daily Mail|accessdate=2018-09-17}}

Mácnas offices are spread across two locations in Galway city. Administration and rehearsals mainly take place in Fisheries Field. Large-scale construction primarily takes place at a warehouse in Liosban.

The Liffey Press and Macnas have published Macnas: Joyful Abandonment, a 250-page history of the company.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theliffeypress.com/macnas-joyful-abandonment.html|title=The Liffey Press Macnas: Joyful Abandonment|website=www.theliffeypress.com|language=en|access-date=2018-09-17}}