The festival is now in its 19th year, once again offering a wide variety of events from music and poetry to theatre and the visual arts. The theme this year is migration and the diaspora, which will resonate not only with the people of the county itself (which is long-used to losing some of its best and brightest to economic migration), but also to the new population of Ireland, many of whom have emigrated from their home countries to settle in a new land.

The Earagail Arts Festival will kick off in grand style, with the opening of the gallery at the new Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny. This new facility will act as one of the centrepoints of a festival that has many central locations, and throughout the duration of the festival it will host a number of exhibitions in photography, painting and film. A highlight will be the screening of a number of short films exploring the theme of immigration, curated by film critic and writer Derek O'Connor.

Maintaining the filmic theme, one of the more unusual events at the Earagail Arts Festival will be a beach screening of Spielberg's classic "Jaws" on Wednesday and Thursday, July 11 and 12 . . . although how many surfers and swimmers will feel that it's safe to go back into the water after refreshing their memories of the movie remains to be seen.

Theatre is a significant element of the festival, and An Grianan Theatre, Letterkenny has the privilege of hosting Sclavi/The Song of an Emigrant on Saturday and Sunday, July 14 and 15.

This internationally acclaimed drama charts the experiences of Slovakian and Ukranian American immigrants in the 1930s, and is a fitting addition to the festival, considering the theme of migration.

Other live performances include an encounter with Jonathan Swift, and encounter with comedian David O'Doherty and an encounter with Francie Brady in Pat McCabe's theatrical adaptation of his novel "The Butcher Boy", entitled "Frank Pig says Hello" Music, the spoken word and the Tory Island Sean Nos festival will also feature strongly throughout the festival, with acts from Declan O'Rourke to the Skatalites performing in a variety of venues.

"Most arts festivals take place in urban areas, " said Earagail Arts Festial artistic director Paul Brown. "But this festival is placed in a rural setting, taking place in 13 towns across the county. It has been designed for the people of Donegal, who are people living in a rural community, a disparate community . . . and it is about offering good quality artistic events and bringing them to areas where they might not otherwise have an outlet."

Despite having been designed for the natives, the festival managed last year to attract more than 35,000 to Donegal. And, with the quality of acts and artistic events set to take place in July, the county can expect similar numbers to attend this year.