It was at ten o'clock this Saturday morning (18th October) that the official Vendée Globe Village was declared open by the President of the Vendée Council, Philippe de Villiers. The public were immediately able to enter and discover 15,000 m2 of exhibitions and educational displays dedicated to the thirty sailors, who will be setting sail around the world in three weeks.

Yesterday evening at around 6, the Vendée Globe skippers and a many fishermen got together for a drink organised by the Local Fishermen's Committee in Les Sables d'Olonne. The aim of this informal get together was to sign an agreement under which the 2008 Vendée Globe will be opened by local fishermen. Since the first edition of the Vendée Globe, fishermen have always worked alongside the event, but for the 2008 edition over the past few months, the Vendée public-private partnership and the fishermen have been working together to find a way to convey the sense of openness and local action around the event. What finer display of solidarity of seafarers than to see professional fishermen and ocean racers getting together than a round the non-stop single-handed world race. That is wonderful, as the 2008 Vendée Globe with its 30 monohulls lining up for the start will more than ever be a close collaboration between these two worlds, for whome the sea is a common workplace. On D-Day, Sunday 9th November, these giants of the oceans will have to be led out of the harbour with the tide limiting procedure, thus leaving the shore teams of each boat just four minutes to make their way out of the harbour channel in Les Sables. From their exit, the skippers will be well escorted, as the fishermen will be guiding them to the start line and bringing their dream to life.

On Saturday morning at nine, Yannick Bestaven (Aquarelle.com-Charente Maritime) was the next to last skipper to enter the harbour channel in Les Sables d’Olonne, and shortly all thirty will be in place for the three weeks of preparation before the start of the Vendée Globe. On Friday evening, Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) and Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eigthy) arrived at dusk. And then this morning, the public were able to see Bernard Stamm´s Cheminées Poujoulat, Sébastien Josse´s BT, Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty´s Maisonneuve and Marc Thiercelin´s DCNS. Now only missing to complete the line-up is the British yachtsman, Steve White (Spirit of Weymouth), who was just off Les Sables d’Olonne at 9h30.

Superb weather for the inauguration of the Vendée Globe village! While a front is attempting to come down from the English Channel towards Les Sables d’Olonne, it will only manage to create light cloudy conditions for a time on Saturday and on Sunday we are expecting some brilliant sunshine. The temperatures may feel a little colder, but remain pleasant exceeding 18° in the afternoon and at around 7°C at dawn. The light to moderate easterly wind is expected to back northerly for a time on Saturday afternoon, but we will rarely see winds above ten knots. Tide times in Les Sables d’Olonne Saturday 18th October: coefficient 93 - 88 High tide: 7h20 – 19h51 Low tide: 1h15 – 13h42 Sunday 19th October: coefficient 81 - 74 High tide: 8h08 – 20h49 Low tide: 2h01 – 14h31

At high tide this Friday evening, four more boats entered through the harbour channel in Les Sables d’Olonne: Roland Jourdain (Veolia Environnement), the Basque, Unai Basurko (Pakea Bizkaia), the Swiss sailor, Dominique Wavre (Temenos II) and Marc Guillemot (Safran), the last yachtsman to arrive at seven. Several other monohull skipers are due to moor up in Port Olona at nightfall, such as Loïck Peyron (Gitana Eighty) and Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat)…

In the Vendée Globe village, dances and music from around the world will be bringing to life the pontoons and the bar: the organisers of this sixth edition really wanted to make this Vendée Globe village a place of celebration at the heart of Les Sables d’Olonne. Music and dance events from countries with a maritime tradition (Ireland, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia), will be taking place throughout the day and evening in the village.

18th-19th October: Ireland
The village will open to the sound of the « Clasac » band from Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October. Made up of more than 300 young men and women simply bursting with energy, the most enthusiastic of whom will be heading for Les Sables d’Olonne to excite the visitors with their tap dancing. The 26 best dancers and musicians from the Company will be taking the stage with the charming delights from Irish bards and traditional dances.
« Clasac » will be bringing along the Gaelic touch from that country with its mild oceanic climate and green pastures, which is known for its highly distinctive music.

25th-26th October: South Africa
The blood of those Swazi warriors that overcame the powerful colonial and military strength of Victorian England still runs through their veins. Dressed in sumptuous costumes, the 25 artists belonging to the «Matsamo cultural group» take us back in time. With the rhythm of their drums and their melodic and poetic songs, they will be offering visitors to Vendée some moments from the daily life of a people, who used to be the most powerful in Africa.

29th Oct-2nd November: Mexico
The «Mariachi Cocula» Group was formed in 1993 by four fans of Mexican music, who wanted to make it more widely known through their regular performances. For the Vendée Globe Village, the group will be made up of twelve dancers and musicians (guitar, vihuela, guitarrón , violin and trumpet) and they will be playing some popular music from some of Mexico´s top composers and musicians: José Alfredo Jimenez, Agustin Lara, Javier Solis, Vicente Fernandez, Consuelo Velasquez…
3rd - 8th November: Colombia
Colombia is to America what Greece is to Europe, the motherland of the Arts with its culture dating back over several millennia. The traditional ballet troupe « Antioquia », founded in 1989, has the aim of spreading Colombian traditions in Europe and around the world. Proud of their triple heritage (Indian, Spanish and African), the 26 dancers in the Antioquia troupe, will be creating a magical atmosphere in the Vendée Globe Village with a ballet worthy of the world´s top ballet companies.
Each day, dancers, singers and musicians will be inviting the visitors to discover the wealth of musical and dance traditions from these maritime regions from around the globe:
Noon – 5 p.m.: Parade and procession with shows being performed on three stages spread around the Vendée Globe village
3.30 p.m.: World dance and music classes
An opportunity for the general public to try for themselves some of the dances and instruments from the guest country in the bar. A show bringing together the public and the artists will be the climax of this introductory session.
9 p.m.: Show open to the general public in the bar-restaurant "Le Vog."