About 50,000 people lined the quays of Waterford last night for the annual Spraoi parade, which concluded three days of spectacular family entertainment.
The parade, entitled "Ten Tall Tales", was followed by a fireworks display over the River Suir, drawing the 10th Spraoi street festival to a typically colourful close.
The event featured hundreds of performers, exotic floats, booming music and thrilling special effects.
Rain threatened to dampen the enthusiasm of spectators on Friday, but the weather gradually improved and yesterday the sun came out to put the city in festive mood.
This year's event attracted a large number of overseas visitors as well as thousands of festival fans from Ireland and the UK, and was hailed by locals as one of the best Spraoi weekends to date.
From lunchtime on Friday until late last night over 400 acts performed on ad-hoc stages erected in open spaces dotted throughout the city.
Among the more daring performers were Quilombo, a troupe of Brazilian acrobats whose breathtaking act involved somersaulting over a bed of knives.
Another highlight was provided by Dream Engine, a street theatre group from Britain, whose show The Candle involved an aerialist contorting eight metres above the ground in Cathedral Square as part of a giant transparent candle.
Taiko drumming from Japan, salsa from the Caribbean, Celtic fusion from the Isle of Skye, blues from the US, "trash percussion" from Liverpool and electric string sounds from London were to be heard in pubs throughout the city participating in the Carlsberg Rhythm Route.
All the outdoor events were free, but Spraoi, which is in the process of building a studio complex on the outskirts of Waterford city, collected donations towards the project totalling over €10,000.
The festival director, Mr T.V. Honan, said the organisers had again been amazed by the support the event had received from the people of Waterford and beyond. "Once again, people turned out in their tens of thousands right through the weekend. There was literally something happening non-stop at a number of different locations from lunchtime to late at night on each of the three days, allowing us to offer acts that appeal to a very wide range of people," he said.
The event was launched in 1993, Mr Honan recalled, because of a desire "to have a bit of craic on a Sunday afternoon".
One of the reasons for choosing the name Spraoi - which means celebration or party - was because it rhymed with '93. After inviting the Galway group Macnas to stage events in 1991 and 1992, the organisers decided to go it alone the next year and Spraoi was born.
Extra gardaí were on duty in Waterford for the weekend but a spokesman said there had been no significant incidents beyond the expected heavy traffic on approach roads to the city.
The studios being built by Spraoi near Waterford Industrial Estate, at a cost of €900,000, will cater specifically for street theatre.