There will be an attendance cap of just 1,000 spectators per day for the Galway Summer Festival. The week-long fixture features the Galway Plate and Galway Hurdle. Galway Racecourse had submitted a proposal of 5,000 fans a day through the turnstiles, but that was rejected by the Irish Government. Instead, the festival will have the same limit on spectators as the Irish Derby meeting at The Curragh earlier this summer. Ireland is still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We got news last night that we will be able to host 1,000 spectators on each day of the summer festival,” said Galway Chief Executive Michael Moloney. “We know, given the support that we've got over the last couple of weeks, that this will be extremely disappointing news to all our fans who had been looking forward to the opportunity maybe of coming back to Ballybrit this year. In terms of our sponsors and everyone looking forward to a larger crowd this year, it is disappointing.
“On the upside it is 7,000 more people than we had this time last year–and for those that do manage to get to come to Ballybrit this year, we're delighted we'll have owners back and now a small amount of public on top of that. We certainly look forward to making it an event that will be worth being at.”
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