Author: whatsonni

THE village of Armoy is gearing up for this year’s Armoy Road Races Bayview Hotel Race of Legends as it prepares for a weekend of world class road racing over the 28^th and 29^th July 2023.

On Wednesday afternoon, members from Armoy Motorcycling Road Racing Club (AMRRC) launched this year’s event at the Bayview Hotel in Portballintrae.

Road racers, sponsors and invited guests including the new Mayor of the Causeway Coast and Glens, Cllr Steven Callaghan, had the opportunity to come together to mark the launch and countdown to the days to the races.

Hosted by title sponsor, Trevor Kane, owner of the Bayview Hotel, guests heard from the Chairman and Clerk of the Course of AMRRC, William Munnis as he outlined the race schedule for 2023 and the club’s relief that this year’s meet was able to go ahead following the uncertainty that faced them earlier in the year regarding associated costs.

Guests also had the opportunity to meet and greet some of this year’s riders including local men Paul Jordan, riding for PreZ Racing, Adam McClean who continues his new 2023 partnership with JMcC Roofing and Neil Kernohan from Kernohan Racing.

Following the launch, the Club’s Chairman William Munnis said, “Preparations are well under way for this year’s Armoy Road Races.  This is our fourteenth year of holding the event and we are indebted to all the riders and loyal fans who continue to support us each year.

“Race entries are due to close on Monday 26^th June 2023 and in addition to the strong local entries we’ve received, we also have riders from USA, France, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man.  This year promises to be another exciting weekend of racing for all our fans and sponsors.

“Today’s launch gives us the opportunity to come together and thank our many sponsors as without their financial help and support we would not be able to stage the races.  Trevor Kane from the Bayview Hotel has once again committed his support to the Armoy Road Races with his continued sponsorship of the Race of Legends.

“Our returning sponsors include Hilton Car Sales, James McKillop, Ian Hickinson, Steadplan Sales, MJF Builders, Diamond Bar and the Mermaid Club, Roadside Garages, Park Electrical Services, David Chambers from Brap Moto, Fay Stewart along with the Bayview Hotel.  I’m also delighted to see new sponsors, Causeway Geotech, EMA Building and Civils, Taggart’s Barn, McNally&Co and Raymond Hodges and TT Racing join us and I’m sure they will enjoy the race experience!”

In the lead up to the races, the Club hosts a popular Bike Week which runs from Sunday 23^rd July until Saturday 29^th July with all events listed on the club’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The Armoy Road Races event is enabled by funding from Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.

For more information on Armoy Road Races, visit www.armoyroadraces.com or search for ‘AMRRC’ on Facebook or follow on twitter @ArmoyRoadRaces.

Scottish trad outfit Kinnaris Quintet will make their Northern Ireland tour debut this summer, performing in Armagh’s Market Place Theatre on 1 July.

Kinnaris Quintet burst onto the scene in 2017 with a unique, highly emotive, energetic, and powerful sound. Their music has been described as ‘euphoric’ and combines Scottish and Irish traditional music with Bluegrass, Classical, Scandinavian and Appalachian influences.

Kinnaris Quintet have produced the perfect concoction of remaining faithful to their traditional roots, whilst delicately pushing the boundaries of tradition, bringing it to the forefront of exciting and modern music. Unable to hide their joy at making music together, the quintet perform with an enthusiasm that is infectious as anyone who has seen them live will attest.

Hailed as the folk band to see the group regularly perform to sell-out shows at Celtic Connections, appear at most other major folk festivals, and have received a number of prestigious music award nominations.

Uplifting, fresh, honest, powerful music is guaranteed, and early booking is advised!

The Kinnaris Quintet will perform for one evening only at The Market Place Theatre on Saturday 1 July at 8.00pm. Tickets are priced £15 and £13 (concession), and can be booked online at www.visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre or through the Box Office on 03300 561 025.

With the world’s largest gathering of young leaders taking place in Belfast this October, the call has gone out for volunteers to help roll out a giant welcome to Northern Ireland.

Welcoming more than 2,000 young leaders from over 190 countries, the One Young World Belfast Summit (2nd – 5th October) will represent four life-changing days of knowledge-sharing and networking, where young delegates will be counselled by some of the most influential political, business and humanitarian leaders in the world.

Belfast City Council are assembling groups of volunteers who will be charged with everything from welcoming delegates, hosting VIPs, being ‘accessibility buddies’ through to assisting at the opening and closing ceremonies.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Ryan Murphy said: “Feedback from previous high profile international events hosted in Belfast has confirmed that our volunteers play a crucial role in making visitors feel welcome through their enthusiasm, friendliness and pride in representing our city.

“One Young World provides another exciting opportunity to showcase Belfast and its people to an audience from across the globe, so I would encourage anyone interested to find out more, get involved and play your part in ensuring that this event is a huge success.”

Volunteer Now Chief Executive, Denise Hayward says Northern Ireland has a rich tradition of excelling in hosting international events.

She said: “From the World Police and Fire Games through to the Giro d’Italia and The Open Championship, Volunteer Now has provided volunteers for some of the biggest events to take place in Northern Ireland.

“The feedback from the organisers of these events always praises the quality of our volunteers as well as the warmth of the welcome they provide to visitors from other countries.

“Organisers of the World Police and Fire Games in 2013 described them as the friendliest Games they had ever run while the R&A said the volunteers at the 148^th Open at Portrush were second to none.

“People from Northern Ireland are naturally welcoming and friendly, and we want people coming here to have a really good experience.

“From the perspective of our volunteers, we want to ensure their experience is meaningful and enjoyable. Training will be given, and you will be fully supported by the Volunteer Now team.”

Denise hopes that the One Young World Summit will leave a legacy of encouraging more people to get involved in volunteering.

She added: “We want our volunteers’ experience of the One Young World Summit to be really positive. We want them to be excited about volunteering and for them to continue their journey with us.”

The One Young World community has grown to a network of over 13,500 Ambassadors, whose projects have gone on to impact 35.8 million people worldwide.

Following the opening ceremony, which will take place at the SSE Arena, delegates and returning Ambassadors will spend three days at the award-winning ICC Belfast for an action-packed agenda of speeches, panels, workshops and networking events.

Positions will be available from Saturday September 30 until Friday October 6; however, volunteers may be required to work past these dates. Applicants must be over 18, be fluent in English (written and spoken), flexible, reliable, friendly and polite.

To find out how you could volunteer at the One Young World Belfast Summit 2023, visit www.volunteernow.co.uk/volunteering/event-volunteering/one-young-world-summit-belfast/

Times were very different in 2011. Nobody knew what a Brexit was. Donald Trump was filming the 7th season of the apprentice and the idea of the realities of a pandemic were still confined to the silver screen with the movie ‘Contagion’ starring Jude Law and Kate Winslet released to cinemas.

In Limavady, the idea of a new music festival was capturing the imagination of some, the consternation of others but general feeling was that the people trying to get Stendhal Festival off the ground might be living in imagination land.

Thirteen years and multiple awards later, Stendhal Festival has certainly proven that it wasn’t just a flash in the pan and this year the team behind the event have been looking back to that very first year in 2011, specifically because this summer they are welcoming back a band who they say are one of the main reasons the event succeeded and why they are now the largest independent music and arts camping festival in Northern Ireland.

“Without Turin Brakes as the headliner that first year, we might have been a one and done,” says event Director Ross Parkhill.

“They brought us credibility and a headline act that set us aside from some of the local festivals at the time as they were a good name from mainland UK. They had had top selling singles and albums and most importantly, they were, and remain, a phenomenal live act.”

Ross added: “We really must give them a lot of credit, from their perspective they had no idea what sort of event they were putting their name to, they took a chance on us, a booking and performance that could never be as meaningful to them as it was to us and off the back of that, we have been running the event for 13 years now.”

Ross concluded: “We had really hoped to get them back on the bill for our 10th anniversary show a couple of years ago but post covid things didn’t work out but we are so, so pleased to be bringing them back this year. Their new album is brilliant, their live performances are better than ever as witnessed by anyone who was at their Belfast show in January and it’s just a really happy occurrence for us at Stendhal that we can get to see these guys take to the stage at the farm once again.”

Guitarist and Lead Singer of Turin Brakes, Olly Knight says that he recalls that first Stendhal well, particularly how it was clear at the time that the event was being run on enthusiasm over everything else.

  “We’ve done lots of shows that for one reason or another have been really unique over our 25-year career,” he admits, “but for a few reasons that Stendhal show has always stayed in the bands mind over the years.

“I remember being aware at the time that this was the first ever edition of the festival and that there was a risk factor for the organisers and to be honest we did feel a little bit of pressure with that because obviously we wanted it to go well and succeed. Now coming back and hearing that is has been a success and that it has lasted for 13 years and won a load of awards is really pleasing for us, it’s a happy story and we are really looking forward to coming back.”

Olly continued: “The one specific thing that stands out in our memory was the green room – it was one of the organisers’ brother’s garage man-cave, just beside that organiser’s parent’s house. That was a new one for us but in a great way. I remember that there was just such a great chemistry about it all, it was clear that there wasn’t a huge budget but what they lacked in money they made up for in enthusiasm and fair play to them for getting to the level they are at today.”

Since 2011 Turin Brakes have continued crafting beautiful folk, rock albums and touring the world. Their latest record Wide Eyed nowhere is an amalgamation of a glorious quarter of a century in the industry and a collection of songs which show the bands progression in that time, while also holding on to some of the subdued acoustic excellence that brought them to prominence in the first place.

They brought the new album to gig in Belfast this past January and Olly says that Northern Ireland was once again a highlight for them on that particular tour.

“We first started coming to Belfast way back in 2000/2001” he said. “Of course, back then before we had been there, there was an obvious edge to things, us being from London and hearing all the stories from the years before, so there were nerves about coming to Northern Ireland at the very start. Now though, we adore the place, there is nowhere quite like it. 

“Every time we came back you could see it growing and maturing as a place or destination right before your eyes. There are loads of great places for us, as essentially tourists, which have popped up just to hang out in, everything just seems so much more mature and relaxed and modern, its somewhere we always want to keep coming back to.” 

Olly added: “It has changed so much for the better in 25 years but one thing that was obvious from the very start was that the people there are warm and welcoming and that our audiences there have always had an amazing energy and synergy with the band and that connection has always made for some mad gigs, gigs that we will absolutely never forget.”

The band have seen and done it all when it comes to festivals, from the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury to The Isle of Wight Festival and right the way around to Stendhal, but Olly says that his most memorable festival moment didn’t involve a Turin Brakes set, but a secret Glastonbury gig in 2010.

“Playing Glastonbury is obviously amazing but when we played the Acoustic tent in 2010, we came off stage and heard rumours that Thom Yorke was going to be doing a secret gig in an off the beaten track location, somewhere on the festival site. 

“We went to where this was rumoured to be taking place and incredibly, in front of a really small and intimate crowd, out came Thom Yorke who proceeded to play a load of Radiohead classics, was joined onstage for some of them by Johnny Greenwood and there we were, in the sun, drinking Rose wine and thinking life just doesn’t get any better than this. A truly magical moment and the best festival moment I’ve ever experienced.”

The band will be bringing a special festival moment to Stendhal this summer and with a potential set list of songs spanning almost a quarter of a century, Olly says that the band will often revisit some of their older tracks, give them a new musical lick of paint and release them to a live audience. This year their second album Ether Song is 20 years old so perhaps some of the brilliant compositions on that collection will be up for new treatments.

“We love going back and reworking some of our old songs, “ he said “we aren’t precious about ideas about how any of our songs should sound or should be played, we see older songs as a blueprint and that they should be expressed by the band we are now as opposed to the band we were when the song was first written. Sometimes doing that will bring a real buzz to a song that maybe hadn’t been in the set list for a while. We’ll say something like, lets play a song but in the style of the Pixies, or something like that and sometimes the results are brilliant and when you drop them into set lists, fans can enjoy the nostalgia of that song at the same time as enjoying a new treatment of it.”

As well as updating older songs, adding in new songs and selecting the big crowd pleasers for set lists at festival gigs, Olly also pointed out that as festival season comes around, the band have to get “Festival Fit”.

“When you move from indoor venue gigs in the winter and spring to mainly outdoor shows in the summer, there are loads of things we have to do as a band, “ he said.  

“When we are doing the more intimate indoor shows you can be a lot more relaxed because you know the crowd are there to see you and only you. You can follow their energy and it’s just physically easier to perform in that situation. Then the summer rolls around and even though we experience it every year, you sort of can’t really prepare yourself for that culture shock of moving from indoors to potentially huge outdoor spaces, where maybe not all of the people there are there specifically to see you. 

“When you switch to that, the band have to bring a different energy, we have to be absolutely on it from the very beginning and bring peak energy from the off, right the way through the set. 

“It is like there are two different versions of the band always trying to be the best version of the band.”

Turin Brakes return to Stendhal Festival on Friday July 7th, 2023. For tickets and more information visit www.stendhalfestival.com

Are you a local business, community group or resident that takes pride in the appearance of your home or premises?

If so, then make sure you enter the Best Kept Garden competition 2023!  The competition is an opportunity for green-fingered gardeners to showcase their horticultural masterpieces and this year we have an additional category, ‘Best Kept Allotment Plot.’

Categories include:

• Best Kept Garden
• Best Kept Front/Container Garden
• Best Kept Community Planting
• Best Kept Commercial Premises
• Best Kept School Grounds (Applications closed)
• Most Wildlife Friendly Garden
• Most Sustainable Garden
• Best Kept Allotment Plot (plot must be within the Borough)

Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Mark Cooper commented, “Our Borough is a beautiful place to live, work and visit and we are lucky to have so many green fingered enthusiasts who take pride in their surroundings. Whether you’ve meticulously cultivated a vibrant garden or created a flourishing allotment plot, we have a category just for you!”

Entries close on 14 July 2023 and judging will commence on 27 July 2023. For more details or to enter the competition visit antrimandnewtownabbey.gov.uk/bestkept

HOLISTIC Kidz has launched its sell-out Summer Forest Camp and for the first time will be joined by some of Northern Ireland’s leading professional sportspeople to help inspire and encourage children to ‘Believe to Achieve’.

The award-winning camp will return to Barnett Demesne in Belfast from Monday 3^rd July – Tuesday 29^th August and runs Monday to Friday from 10am – 3pm.

There will be lots of action-packed fun and outdoor adventure for children aged three to 12 including forest trekking, bushcraft, mega mudslides, mud bath jumping, tree swinging, nature arts & crafts, colour run assault courses, pro-football and rugby sports star camp visits, positive affirmations & mindfulness fun, scavenger hunts, planting & potting, a weekly Pizza Co. campfire party and Friday prize giving ceremony and much more!

Northern Ireland football legend Niall McGinn is the first special guest to be announced. Whilst well-known personal trainer Neil Anderson will be returning to put the Holistic Kidz through their paces with weekly Woodland Workouts.

Colette McCartney, Founder of Holistic Kidz said: “Building confidence and inner self belief is at the heart of everything we do at Holistic Kidz and we encourage all children to ‘Believe to Achieve’. This summer, we are teaming up with some of Northern Ireland’s best known professional athletes and sports stars who will share their incredible stories with our Holistic Kidz to show how they believed in their dreams and because of this, have each gone on to achieve great success and accomplished their goals.”

“Scandinavian countries are ranked the healthiest and happiest in the world and one of the reasons behind this is that from a young age children are taught outdoors in all weather conditions. Our Summer Forest Camp takes place in the great outdoors, and rain, hail or shine, children will be able to avail of the many proven scientific benefits of this including increased energy levels, physical fitness, improved mood and focus and running around breathing in the fresh air always ensures a good night’s sleep!

There is no better place for children to thrive as they will learn new skills, build their confidence, boost their creativity and enquiring mind and develop essential problem-solving skills and independence,” Colette added.

An Holistic Kidz Weekly Explorer pass (Monday – Friday) is £127 per child and a Daily Explorer pass is £35 per child.

For further information go to www.holistickidz.com or holistic_kidz on Instagram.

The hugely popular Armed Forces Day will take place in Larne on Saturday 17 June 2023 at Sandy Bay Playing Fields, from 10am.

Every year the event is held in the United Kingdom to celebrate the service of personnel in the British Armed forces both past and present.

The action packed day will kick off with a parade to the venue and a drumhead service. The day will be filled with something for the whole family, including;

• Interactive & static military displays
• Performance from Band of the Royal Irish Regiment
• Military village
• 21 Royal Gun Salute for the King’s official birthday fired by 206 (Ulster) Battery RA
• Live music from the Music Yard, Swingtime Starlets and The Gold Tips
• Army Parachute display by Silver Stars RLC
• RAF Display team featuring BBMF Lancaster
• AAC Gazelle helicopter (static display)
• RAFP Military Working Dogs display
• Children’s entertainment
• Ulster Aviation Society static display
• STEM competition

The day will draw to a close with a Beating Retreat finale.

Please note; all stall and charity pitches have now been allocated

For further information please go to https://www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/things-to-do/whats-on/armed-forces-day-2023