Month: October 2023

Lurgan is celebrating its status as a Rising Star on Saturday 28^th October with a busy family fun day and free parking in all council owned car parks, culminating in a Lantern Walk through the centre.

Urban ABC and Lurgan Working Group have come together to plan a fun-filled day of events including free walking tours, a treasure hunt, storytelling, pumpkin carving, lego displays and street entertainment.

The celebration is happening after Lurgan came first in the Rising Star category at the ‘Let’s Celebrate Towns’ Awards, sponsored by Visa and the British Retail Consortium, earlier this year.

Only 30 towns were shortlisted for eight different award categories designed to be a nationwide showcase celebrating the hundreds of towns across the UK. Competing towns were challenged to highlight a range of exciting initiatives, including business and council partnerships to drive investment, and local mentoring to support local businesses, as part of the application process.

Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Alderman Margaret Tinsley said:

“We are proud to support and celebrate Lurgan and its Rising Star Award. This family fun day is the ideal way to include the entire community and showcase the local businesses, arts and culture, and spirit of the town.”

“A particular emphasis was placed by the judging panel on recognising towns that clearly demonstrated support for local business and community initiatives. This win demonstrates the hard work and commitment of the people of Lurgan.”

All Rising Star Family Fun Day events are free and there will be free car parking on Saturday 28^th October across the town centre. Events start at 10am and the Lantern Walk will begin at 5.40pm leaving Brownlow Courtyard and finishing at the Linen Bleacher Statues. Everyone is welcome.

To keep up to date with all the events planned, visit the Urban ABC facebook page here: www.facebook.com/urbanabcfacebook

Belfast City Council is investing £5.9 million to deliver the city’s biggest ever creative and cultural celebration, with a programme of world-class spectacle events and community-led activities planned for throughout the city in 2024, beginning next spring.

The Belfast 2024 programme will see the city come alive with ambitious, participative workshops, performances and events and an array of creative projects and initiatives, celebrating our homegrown culture, creativity and the city itself.

The investment was approved by all political parties earlier this autumn and follows extensive engagement with local cultural, community and arts providers over the last 18 months, as well as ongoing public consultation around how best to showcase Belfast’s many diverse and unique cultures.

People, Place and Planet will be the key themes in a programme of 24 large-scale commissions, that will bring over 200 events, workshops and activities to Belfast from March to November 2024.

Seventeen of the major events planned have been specially commissioned following an open call to artists, collectives and organisations earlier this year.

Together, they will provide a welcome financial boost to the cultural sector, supporting jobs and creating new opportunities for residents to enjoy, access and participate in the arts and creativity, encouraging visitors into Belfast to support the local economy, and showcasing the city as a global destination for culture.

Signature events in development so far include:

• Eden Project Partnership – Belfast City Council has been working in collaboration with Eden Project, based in Cornwall, to develop a partnership with Belfast. It will explore our relationship with nature and the climate crisis and how we re-evaluate and re-invent our urban spaces to be more sustainable and become more engaged with the natural world through creative and cultural interventions. Throughout 2024, Eden, together with local project partners, will deliver a series of city centre and neighbourhood interventions across Belfast focussed on greening and growing with local communities.

• Public art, inspired by nature – Council is also working in collaboration with Oliver Jeffers, the Nerve Centre and the Eden Project on research and development around the potential for public art installations in Belfast city centre in April/May 2024. These will be based on the themes of nature, power and a greener city and highlight the importance of sustainability in the Belfast’s future development and growth.
• Maritime-inspired events – a renewed focus on the River Lagan, highlighting our maritime heritage and re-engaging our people with the river, during summer and winter 2024.
  Maritime-themed concepts under development include a river pavilion, a mass boat-building project and beer and bread brewing activities, marking the city’s origins and connections with the River Farset.
• Black Mountain Shared Space guerilla gardening project with creative lead Eileen McClory – an ambitious large-scale, multi-layered, multi-artform and multi-event project throughout 2024. It aims to rewild peace walls in west Belfast into vibrant, inclusive, vertical gardens for the future, through dance, storytelling and gardening, while inspiring civic pride and activism within local communities.
• Celebrating the International Decade of African Descent – Kwame Daniels and Bounce Culture will present an immersive music event as a finale to a city-wide engagement project, inspired by Frederick Douglass’ famous quote about feeling at home in Belfast during his time here in 1800s.

  This unique project, in autumn 2024, will showcase local, contemporary black culture in the city in the final year of this commemorative decade.

• Immersive Experience at Thompson Dry Dock – developed in partnership with architect Henry Sykes and Three’s Theatre Company, this spectacle event in late summer/early autumn 2024 will combine light, shadow, colour and sound and take place in the iconic dock where the Titanic was launched. 40 feet below sea level, it will invite the audience to participate and experience the world around them from a different perspective.
• City of Music event – a major event in autumn 2024, celebrating Belfast’s local music scene and highlighting our UNESCO City of Music designation.

“This is a hugely ambitious and exciting step forward for Belfast,” said Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy. “By investing in the arts in this way, we are creating new opportunities to protect, sustain and develop employment in a sector which is a catalyst for so much of our local economy.

“The city’s arts and cultural community have had real input into this programme, as have our residents through a variety of creative engagement, events, workshops and pilot projects – they’ve told us what they think will attract people to come into the city and make the most of their time here, as well as what works best to encourage communities to get involved in creativity and really make Belfast 2024 their own.

“The spectacle events being developed will draw in the crowds while delivering powerful, thought-provoking messages around diversity, inclusion and sustainability, but I’m also delighted to see so many activities planned which draw upon our own personal experiences of culture, and shine a light on how, together, they make up the fabric of our city.

“I’m so excited to have Belfast 2024 kicking off in my year in office and would encourage everyone to get involved in taking part and attending events as they are announced – let’s show what we, as a city, can offer and get behind this celebration of what Belfast is, and what it can be in the future.”

As part of the Belfast 2024 programme, 16 artists from the council’s creative bursary programme will also work in partnership with creative teams and local communities throughout 2024 to create a lasting legacy of participation and interest in the arts, with projects exploring themes of identity and belonging and showcasing and celebrating new and minority communities, along with elements of traditional culture. British Council NI are also partnering with the council to deliver six international artist residencies, working with communities to deliver co-designed creative interventions across the city’s public realm.

A community-led Creative Citizens scheme is also planned, where local groups can put forward their own ideas for projects linked to the Belfast 2024 themes of People, Place and Planet. Residents will then be asked to vote for their favourite schemes to take place in neighbourhoods right across the city, all to be delivered during 2024.

A music heritage programme is also under development, with grants available for projects celebrating the city’s diverse musical heritage, while innovation and tech will also play a key role, including immersive initiatives focusing on play and digital technology.

Existing city offerings, including St Patrick’s Day, will also be enhanced as part of the Belfast 2024 programme, while local festivals such as the Belfast International Arts Festival, Outburst Arts Festival and Belfast Film Festival will host a series of events and shows as part of the wider offering for visitors and residents.

More details of the Belfast 2024 programme will be announced in due course and be available from belfastcity.gov.uk/belfast2024

New Forge house, Craigavon, County Armagh

Ease into autumn in this beautiful Georgian family run hotel. Enjoy delicious locally sourced food, luxurious accommodation, and tranquil surroundings. The bedrooms incorporate family antiques and have mellow views of the mature gardens, courtyard or green fields. A two-night mid-week break with dinner B & B is £490 per couple. Visit https://www.newforgehouse.com/ for more information.

Manse on the Beach, Kirkistown, County Down

A warm welcome awaits on the Ards Peninsula in this lovely property dating from the 1850’s. Overlooking a two-mile stretch of sandy beach in the tranquil village of Cloughey, a perfect place to escape. Enjoy 18 holes at the Kirkistown Gold Club, a lovely links course then enjoys a three-course meal in the Braid restaurant. DB & B is £125 PPS. If you want to add a bottle of prosecco and a jacuzzi spa experience it is an extra £10 per person. Visit https://www.hello@manseonthebeach.com  for more information.

White Horse Hotel, Derry~Londonderry, County Londonderry

This four-star family run hotel just outside the Walled City, is a great place to relax. Press the pause button and take some time to unwind with great spa facilities: a 20-metre pool, Gym, sauna and steam room. Enjoy a giant break from £129 per room per night. This is a hotel which prides itself on its customer service. Visit https://www.whitehorsehotel.biz for more information.

Book in advance to avoid disappointment. Subject to availability.

For more information on what’s on or to plan a short break in Northern Ireland, visit https://discovernorthernireland.com/

The Belfast-based engineering and manufacturing firm PAC Group have been selected by Airborne to supply their innovative hot drape performer technology to an ambitious new aerospace project.

The cell being procured by UK aerospace company GKN Aerospace is a collaboration between leading engineering and manufacturing companies, with the aim of providing a fully automated preforming line to the Global Technology Centre in Bristol. 

Airborne are supplying the cell, integrating systems provided by PAC Group and the other companies involved in the project Accudyne and Assyst Bullmer. 

The system will comprise of sub-systems developed by each manufacturer, and will set out to fulfil the aims of the UK industry consortium project ASCEND.

ASCEND (Aerospace and Automotive Supply Chain Enabled Development), with lead partner GKN Aerospace, aims to usher in the next generation of energy-efficient aircraft through the acceleration of composite materials and process technologies. Valued at £40 million, ASCEND has been made possible through a £20 million investment from the industry, and a commitment of £19.6 million by the UK government funded by the ATI Programme (a partnership between Department for Business and Trade, Aerospace Technology Institute, and Innovate UK).

“We are delighted to be working with Joe Summers and the team at Airborne.” said Darren Leslie, Business Development Director at PAC Group. 

“It’s an honour to be able to contribute to this ambitious project, and we’re excited to be able to provide our innovative technology. Mr Leslie added. 

“We’re excited to be able to provide our technology, and look forward to supporting Airborne and other industry leaders in achieving their goal of a higher rate of manufacturing composite structures.”

The project will accelerate the production rate of aerospace technology and enable the greater adoption of composite technology. In doing so, the ASCEND project will help to secure the UK’s position as a technology leader in future lightweight structures for sustainable aircraft and mobility. 

“We’re proud of the sustainable nature of this project,” said Mr Leslie.

“It will contribute to the reduction of the industry’s carbon footprint and energy consumptions, whilst ushering in a new age of energy-efficient aircraft and future mobility.” 

Joe Summers, Managing Director at Airborne, commented on PAC’s involvement in the project. 

“PAC Group’s technology and hardware is exactly what we need to complement our Automated Ply Placement system to produce the 2D stacks,” said Mr Summers. 

“We are looking forward to working with the team at PAC Composites in order to offer a flexible automation solution and workflow automation, enabling a higher rate of the manufacturing of composite structures.”

PAC Group’s hot drape preformer forms an essential part of the Automated Preforming Cell. The Automated Preforming Cell transforms broad goods, including non-crimp fabrics or woven materials, in 3D preforms usable with Resin Transfer Molding (RTM). PAC Group’s preformer forms an essential part of the system, and will 3D form the preforms. 

PAC Group’s preformer – also known as a Hot Drape Former – has been recognised and commended for its innovative nature. In 2021, PAC Group was awarded the Queen’s Award for Innovation.

“As the leading specialist in the design and manufacture of Hot Drape Forming machines, we’re thrilled that we can bring our innovative technology to this industry-wide collaborative project,” said Gavin Rankin, Technical Director at PAC Group. 

“Each of our preformers are manufactured to the highest standards. Every component of the system is produced to an exceptional quality, with reliability and durability at the heart of their design.”

“We hold 42 patents on the hardware and software used in our preformers, solidifying our position at the forefront of the development of this innovative technology,” added Mr Rankin.

“We’ve serviced some of the biggest names in the automotive and aerospace industry and it’s great to now be involved in the impressive, industry-wide UK ASCEND project, and to have a part in accelerating UK composite material and process technology.”

The Music in the Chamber series of concerts return to Bangor Castle this Autumn and first up to take the stage in the beautiful Chamber room on Thursday 19 October, is one of Ireland’s finest singer songwriters, Niall McCabe.

Niall McCabe has developed a style and voice that are unquestionably his own, having performed extensively with his Folk-Soul group, The Niall McCabe Band over the past decade. Born on Clare Island, Co. Mayo, McCabe grew up in family run pub awash with strong musical influences, from traditional Irish and rock to folk and soul, It is here that Niall discovered his musical appetite and developed a style and voice that are unquestionably his own.

As well as becoming an accomplished finger-style guitar player, more recently Niall has been lending his unique voice to Irish trad-fusion band ‘Beoga’, touring Ireland, Europe and the USA while also playing support for Ed Sheeran, Foy Vance and Johnny Swim.

McCabe’s eagerly anticipated ‘Rituals ’album was released in February 2023 to critical acclaim and featured as RTE Album of the Week, while the song Rituals topped the RTE Radio airplay charts for five consecutive weeks.

RITUALS

‘…the weight of personal experience and reflection makes it a masterpiece, in the true sense of the word’ IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE

‘A Sentimental Soulful Debut’ – HOTPRESS Magazine

‘…an incredibly talented singer-songwriter and his song ‘Stonemason’ is one of the best I’ve ever heard’ – Miriam O’Callaghan (RTE Radio 1)

Hastings Hotels is gearing up for a spook-tacular Halloween, with a frighteningly good selection of dining options and overnight breaks for all the family

Ghostly Afternoon Tea

Two of the group’s hotels will be holding special Halloween Afternoon Teas (28^th – 31^st October) with a selection of themed delights and ghostly treats:

• The Everglades Hotel in Derry-Londonderry for £30 per adult and £21 per child
• Ballygally Castle is £35 per adult and £19 per child

Devilishly Good Grand Buffet

Those looking for a devilishly good Grand Buffet are in luck on Sunday 29^th October where there will be no tricks, only treats – with fancy dress optional.

• The ghoulishly good Everglades Hotel themed Sunday Buffet Lunch will have a guest appearance from Winifred the Witch and is priced £35 per adult, £21 for little monsters and under 4s eat for free.
• Visitors to Ballygally Castle can look forward to a frightfully fantastic feast with themed treats from starters through to desserts for £40 per adult, £25 for little monsters and under 3s eat for free.
• At Stormont Hotel you’re in for a treat with the Halloween Themed Sunday Buffet Lunch, where you can sink your teeth into the very best of food – £45 Per Adult, £21 per little pumpkin (6 years and over) 5’s and Under Eat Free.

Spooky Stayover

Stay at the haunted Ballygally Castle from just £215 for two people with overnight accommodation, Halloween-themed afternoon tea for two, breakfast the following morning and for those brave enough make sure you pay a visit to the Ghost Room of Lady Isabella Shaw.

Treat yourself to the Spooky Halloween Buffet Stayover at the Stormont Hotel from only £185 for two people with a special themed Sunday Buffet on arrival and full Irish breakfast the following morning.

Experience a wickedly wonderful Halloween at the Europa Hotel from £280 for two people or £360 for a family of four with overnight accommodation, Halloween Afternoon tea in the Piano Lounge and breakfast the following morning.

For further information or to book a spellbinding Halloween experience with Hastings Hotels, call 028 9047 1066 or for further information go to www.hastingshotels.com

Following the success of the Winter Woollies campaign last year which received over 500 handmade donations, Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council is delighted to relaunch this initiative for a second consecutive year.

As the temperature drops and the cost of heating rising this scheme calls on crafters to knit or crochet items to provide warmth and comfort to our residents during the chilly winter months.

Whether it’s crafting knitted or crocheted hats, scarfs or comforting blankets  every handmade item will be a gift to someone in need, be it a baby or an older person and everyone in between. Regardless of you being a knitting expert or just getting started your contribution matters. You can craft on your own or team up with friends, classmates or a community group in order to get involved and support this worthy cause.

Donations may be dropped off at either Mossley Mill or Antrim Civic Centre, 9am-5pm Monday to Friday, starting from Monday 2 October until Friday 17 November 2023. Please remember to leave your name, address and contact number with your donated item, to be in with an opportunity to be selected as a ‘Mayor’s Favourite Item’. Additionally, consider adding a heartfelt message, which will be passed on to the recipient of your handmade item.

The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Mark Cooper commented, “I am pleased to see this initiative returning for a second year and I know that these pieces are the result of a lot of hard work.  I can’t wait to see the entries and look forward to selecting the winners.

I hope that this scheme will benefit both the recipients of the handmade warm clothing and that those crafting will also gain personal fulfilment, creative expression, and a sense of community engagement through their contribution.”

If you are unable to get to a donation drop off point please contact the Health and Wellbeing team who will gladly arrange to collect your item: T. 028 9034 0160 or E. envhealth@antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk

For further information you can also visit antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk/winter-woollies