Heineken Ireland has won the pouring rights to the Volvo Ocean Race grand finale in Galway next year. The city will host an eight-day celebration to mark the race finale from June 30 to July 8 2012.
The announcement was made at an event held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Galway on Friday evening hosted by legendary sailor and official race commentator Jerry Kirby, who sailed in the last Volvo Ocean Race. His son Rome is currently racing aboard Puma.
“I congratulate Galway, it is so competitive and very difficult to get a stopover,” Jerry Kirby said at the event. “Being around this race as long as I have been it’s amazing to see that you guys have managed to set the bar for what a stopover should be. The Galway stopover was the stopover to be at. The stories, the people partying in the streets, the Irish hospitality, the energy that only the Irish can always bring, is already legendary.”
The Volvo Ocean Race is expected to attract more than 200,000 people per day for each of its eight days in Galway as the race concludes with an in-port race and Pro-Am race and the prizegiving ceremony.
The deal means Heineken Ireland’s premium beer brands — which include Heineken, Coors Light, Tiger, Desperados, and other international premium beers — will be available at the biggest event on Ireland’s sporting calendar in 2012.
“The Volvo Ocean Race is the most thrilling event to happen in Ireland next year,” said David Forde, managing director at Heineken Ireland. “Heineken looks forward to being central to people’s enjoyment of the Volvo Ocean Race village, the hub of the festivities for the final, and most exciting, leg of the race.”
The pouring deal represents another huge asset for Heineken Ireland as it enters in to 2012 with pouring rights to some of Ireland’s biggest sporting and music events.
