The Volvo Ocean Race bank holiday weekend on-water and on-shore festivities has seen record breaking crowds visit Galway city. Since it opened on 23rd May through to Saturday 30th May, over 238,000 visitors have passed through the Race Village and Salthill while thousands more flocked to the city yesterday to avail of the sailing, music, entertainment and street spectacle provided as part of the two-week Festival of events.

On a glorious morning last Saturday crowds in their thousands arrived to the Volvo Ocean Race Village in Galway and walked the Green Dragon Route to Salthill to ensure a prime view of the Red Arrows Air Display at 11.30am followed by the much anticipated In-Port Race on Galway Bay at 1pm. Visitors were entertained along the route to Salthill by lots of colourful street spectacle and children's entertainment. Basking in what felt like a Mediterranean climate the crowds were treated to a spectacular air display by the Red Arrows who captivated the visitors with their synchronized maneuvers, painting the Galway sky with streams of red, white and blue.

The action in the sky was equally matched by the the on-water spectacle as hundreds of boats took to Galway Bay to cheer on the home boat Green Dragon and the Volvo Open 70 fleet as they competed for valuable points during the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race. Live commentary was provided as spectators lined the Salthill Promenade, beaches and any space they could find to view the magnificent yachts with their colourful sails on the bay. The crowd also availed of the big screens in the Race Village and Salthill to watch all of the action while the race was broadcast live on TG4 and streamed online to a 2 billion worldwide audience on Volvo Ocean Race TV.

Puma won the In-Port Race in Galway after two thrilling races were held on Galway Bay. This is the first time that PUMA has taken top podium position during this Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09. Telefónica Blue were in second place while Ericsson 4 took third place. At the prizegiving on the Topaz Main Stage all three teams received a rapturous applause from he crowds who surrounded the Harbour and welcomed in all 7 boats earlier that evening. An exhilarated Puma Skipper, Ken Read stated ‘Galway has been the best stopover for us, we want to come back to Galway'.

The night's entertainment continued in the Race Village when world renowned accordion player Sharon Shannon and friends were the headline music act on Saturday night at the Topaz Main Stage, played to an ecstatic crowd of 59,000. During the performance Sharon Shannon informed the crowd ‘this is the largest audience we have ever played to'. Earlier that evening visitors were treated to a very Galway night of musical entertainment by fiddle player, Cora Smith who has performed with Riverdance many times and earlier in the night by the wonder Cora Smith and her band and Galway singer songwriter, Don Stiffe. To end the night's music the audience were treated to a surprise appearance by the Sawdoctors which brought to an end an unforgettable day and night in the city.

Sunday morning again saw thousands of visitors leisurely make their way to Salthill and the Race Village to have a second opportunity to view the Volvo Open 70 fleet in action during the Pro-Am Racing at 12 noon, where the teams could relax while they raced for spectacle rather than competing on this occasion. Despite light winds the mighty Volvo Open 70s made for great viewing as they dashed across Galway Bay and thrilled the crowds. Along the Green Dragon Route the crowds made their way into the Race Village to enjoy Galway's well known Trad on the Prom who brought their unique and energetic show to the Topaz Main Stage.

Last night Volvo Ocean Race hosted a special Prizegiving Ceremony for the winners of Leg 7 from Boston to Galway which included Irelands, Green Dragon who received their trophy for third place while first place winners Ericsson 4 and second place winners Puma received a warm Irish welcome from the audience. CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race, Knut Frostad stated ‘of all the stopover ports they have visited around the world in this 2008-09 series, Ireland's stopover in Galway has by far exceeded all other stopover ports and is a model to be followed for future ports'.

Ends.