Summer fun as festival season is about to begin

Summer fun as festival season is about to begin

30 May 2018

NEWRY, Mourne and Down District Council’s free flagship Giant Adventures festivals and other events all return this summer with enchanted vigour, building and drawing on the success of last year’s events.

The Giant Adventures festivals — Strangford Lough Skiffie Festival, Footsteps in the Forest, Festival of Flight, Wake the Giant and City of Merchants — will take place across the district in various locations that will use and highlight the areas mountains, coastline and unique stories of legend and lore to bring each to life.

It is estimated that the Giant Adventures flagship festival programme will have a positive impact on the local economy of circa £10m.”

In addition to the Giant Adventures festival programme there will be an exciting programme of summer events, organised by communities and businesses across the district, that will also celebrate the districts culture and heritage.

These events will benefit from an increased level of financial support from the Council this year and will add greatly to another summer of spectacular events for everyone to enjoy.” 

Council chairwoman Roisin Mulgrew said: “The development of our festivals under the Giant Adventures brand, together with additional financial support for a range of other established events, is one of the positive steps the Council took to position its district as one of the premier tourism destinations in Ireland.

“The Giant Adventures programme has been designed to deliver ‘epic moments’ to our visitors, providing experiences that they will never forget and want to return for. The more choice that we can offer, the more appealing our district will be.”

The series of summer events will kick off over June 14 -17 with DownTime — a new festival to promote the fantastic racing, culture and music heritage of Downpatrick.

The festival will host an epic weekend of horse racing, plus unique arts and cultural events and musical performances, including Cara Dillion in the majestic Down Cathedral and Stockton’s Wing in the grounds of Down County Museum.

The internationally recognised Mourne International Walking Festival will take place over three days in Newcastle, June 22-24, and will offer walkers, of all levels of fitness, stunning routes in the Mourne Mountains and surrounding countryside. The walking routes will vary between 10k and 40k at both high and low level.

Strangford Lough Skiffie Festival will take place on Strangford Lough and based at Delamont Country Park between July 27-29. It will attract many international competitors and local competitors with their community built skiffs.

This popular event visitors will have the opportunity to watch the racing, meet the rowers, savour a variety of locally produced food at the accompanying food fair and enjoy a fun-filled programme of events at Delamont.

The ever popular Footsteps in the Forest event take place over August 4-5 using the beauty and mystery of Slieve Gullion Forest Park to capitalise on well-known tales associated with the forest.

Now a firm favourite, the Festival of Flight in Newcastle promises a powerful combination of stunning airborne antics led again by the Red Arrows and complemented by a lively ground level programme of family-friendly events and attractions, including the popular Aviation and Food Village.

New for this year there will be a corporate STEM area, a ‘FansZone’, corporate hospitality area and an enhanced exhibit of RAF flying aircraft on the ground to mark the centenary of the RAF, all played out against the iconic back of the Mountains of Mourne. The event will be soaring high over the shores of Newcastle and Dundrum Bay on 11 August 2018.

The Wake the Giant festival is back between 18-19 August 2018 in Warrenpoint for more gigantic interactive fun and a new story that will once again bring Finn the Giant to life using the combined efforts of the audience, the artists and craftspeople.

City of Merchants will take place between September 21-22 in Newry and bring another year of epic ‘Giant Adventures’ to a close. Drawing on the maritime and industrial heritage of Newry, this event will celebrate and commemorate the roles of commerce and trade in the city.

The district will also host three other high profile events during the summer that will attract a huge interest.

Castlewellan will play host to Fleadh Uladh over July 23-29. This event will see an influx of visitors from all across Northern Ireland and the border counties.

Donard Park in Newcastle will be the venue for this year’s Ulster Pipe Band Championships on August 21 when pipes, drums and passion return to the shores of the Mournes and visitors can enjoy a feast of music and competition.

Finally there will be an inaugural Cycle Sportive covering the district. This mass participation cycle is scheduled for September.

Other spectacular summer events include: Mourne Way Marathon in Warrenpoint on June 9, Soma Festival in Castlewellan over July 19-22, GI Jive Festival in Kilkeel over July 23-28, Reiver’s Festival in Kilkeel from June 28 to July 11, Fiddler’s Green Music Festival in Rostrevor during July 22-29, PSYCLE Cross Country Mountain Endurance event in Castlewellan over August 24-26, Pride in Newry Festival on September 1 and the Iúr Cinn Fleadh in Newry over September 2-9.