On January 8th 2005 100,000 people took to the streets of Cork to celebrate the start of the cities reign as European Capital of Culture.
The event was supported by EU funding, sponsors, Cork City Council and the Government with Government financial assistance totalling €7.85m.

Throughout 2005 Cork staged an extraordinary programme of cultural activity covering a broad spectrum of events including theatre and dance; architecture, design and visual arts; music; sport; film, media and sound; festivals; literature, publications and conferences.
During the year more than a million people, attended official Cork 2005 events.

Local national and international audiences turned out to take part in a programme of events which marked a very successful year. At the end of December Cork handed on the mantle to the Greek city of Patras which had been designated as Cultural Capital of Europe for 2006.