The pub underneath the Corrib Stand, built in 1955, was for many years the longest bar in the world.

[2] Additional race meetings also take place in September and October, but these are not as popular as the summer festival, which draws more than 150,000 spectators.

On 21 April 2020, the Galway Race Committee announced that the 2020 summer festival—scheduled for 27 July to 2 August—was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and would be held behind closed doors for the first time since 1869.

Further, it constitutes the last third of the track Medley on the 1988 album If I Should Fall from Grace with God by The Pogues (the two first parts being The Recruiting Sergeant and an instrumental version of Rocky Road to Dublin).

In 2009, TG4 broadcast a comedy TV series, Rásaí na Gaillimhe, that unfolds during Galway Race Week.