Volvo Ocean Race Festival gets underway today

The fortnight-long Volvo Ocean Race Festival officially gets underway in Galway today.

The event was formally launched last night at a ceremony on the Galway Docks attended by several thousand spectators.

The organisers say it will be the biggest festival of its kind in Ireland and will be worth more than €40m to the local economy.

Over the next two weeks, Galway will host more than 100 free events before the yachts participating in the Volvo Ocean Race resume their round-the-world journey on June 5.