PROLIFIC Melbourne cartoonist and caricaturist Victor Castro can draw up to 25 lifelike facial pictures an hour and he sent away dozens of happy customers from the Cowes Twilight Foreshore Market on Saturday of the New Years Eve long weekend.

With the weather still cool, but turning fine, one of the biggest crowds seen at a Cowes Foreshore Market stayed away from the beaches and turned out for some evening activity.

And with plenty of food, craft and fun on offer, they strolled the Cowes Esplanade or watched the action from vantage points at the North Pier Hotel at one end or the Hotel Phillip Island at the other.

Among them were the Parrotts of Healesville with youngsters Knox, Amber and April getting a unique souvenir of their visit to Phillip Island, a drawing by caricaturist Victor Castro.

It was all part of a massively busy weekend on Phillip Island, with the main roads busy but moving all weekend, cafes and restaurants experiencing queues at peak times and accommodation packed.

The only thing missing was some real beach weather but that arrived on New Year's Eve, warm enough for a swim and the skies clear into the evening as everyone came out for the fireworks.