Thousands of oysters were washed down with gallons of Guinness to the accompaniment of top-class musical entertainment during the 51st Clarenbridge Oyster Festival over the weekend.
While the sun may not have deigned to shine very brightly in honour of the first oysters of the Galway season, there was no shortage of vibrant summery colours in the festival marquee on Saturday afternoon, the traditional style highlight of the event.
Pretty pink, aquamarine, lemon and lime ensembles rubbed shoulders with autumnal hues of chocolate browns, coffee beiges and blacks. Some ladies opted for a more casual look, teaming denims with dressy tops, many more wore stylish cocktail dresses, while some went all out and strutted their stuff in ballgowns.
Comedian Alan Shortt stepped in as MC for the event at the last minute in place of Aonghus McAnally, who has performed this duty for the past 10 years but had to cry off this year after suffering a ruptured appendix.
Shortt's fellow Celebrity You're a Star contestant, Síle Seoige, was guest of honour at the festival.
"The atmosphere here has been unbelievable all weekend," said Seoige. "I was here a few years ago and it was lovely to be asked back as special guest."
Among the 1,750 revellers in the marquee on Saturday were 50 Californians who made the festival the centrepiece of a wedding which takes place in Kilcolgan Castle today.
Another group of 40 beer-loving Germans swapped Munich for Clarenbridge over the weekend where they were joined by fellow Germans, Italians, French, Americans and a large contingent of locals.
Festival chairman Dermot Comerford was delighted the weekend's events were all sold out. He attributed the success of the 2005 festival to the top-class line-up of entertainment from the US, South America, the UK and Ireland.
"The festival has brought huge business into the village and surrounding area. All of the local hotels and guest houses were booked out and the bars and restaurants were all full."
