The Ards International Guitar Festival rocks into Newtownards this weekend and promises to showcase a wealth of local and international guitar talent. With a fantastic programme featuring guitarists from every genre, there really is something to suit every musical taste at Ards and North Down Borough Council’s much-loved festival which runs from 7 – 10 April.

One of the highlights of this year’s programme is Jon Gomm, the Leeds- based guitarist and singer-songwriter with a revolutionary virtuoso guitar style. Jon will be taking to the stage in the Queen’s Hall, Newtownards on Saturday 9 April, supported by Carlow-born virtuoso Shane Hennessy. A night of live music not to be missed!

Blue’s fans will love the Mike Wilgar Blues Band who are performing in The Ivy Bar, Newtownards on Friday 8 April. Mike first picked up the harmonica at the age of nine and has been blasting out tunes for four decades since! Well known on both the local and international scene, Mike and his band have received great praise from blues critics and fans alike. The band’s 2006 album Swimming with Sharks remains a regular on the playlist for blues and roots radio DJs across the world.

On Thursday, 7 April the festival’s Film Screening will take place in The Ivy Bar, showing ‘Guy Clark – Without Getting Killed or Caught.’ This celebration of the life of American Folk and Country Legend Guy Clarke will include the film by Tamara Saviano which explores the intimate triangle of the subject his wife Susanna, and Townes Van Zandt and will be followed by a live set from two of Ireland’s foremost aficionados of Guy’s work – Barry Johnston (acoustic guitar) and David Neill (acoustic bass), from the band Illegal Smile.

For those who fancy honing their guitar skills by learning from the experts, the festival’s Guitar Clinics are the perfect opportunity! The Clinics hosted by Paddy Anderson, Shane Hennessy, Jon Gomm, Ronnie Greer and Anthony Toner will guide you through various styles of playing. The Clinics will take place in Ards Arts Centre on various dates. Pre-booking is essential.

Commenting on the Festival, Emily Crawford, Festival Director said: “After a 2-year hiatuswe are delighted to welcome audiences back, many shows have already sold out but there are still tickets available for some festival favourites including our annual brunch with Ralph McLean. We are anticipating a great festival of live guitar music this year and we’d love to see you there.”

Ards International Guitar Festival is a must for music fans everywhere. For ticket details or to view the full programme please visit the website www.ardsguitarfestival.co.uk  or alternatively call Ards Arts Centre on 028 9181 0803

The self-proclaimed Jack of all trades, Hillas Smith aka Mr H, is a popular circus and street performer for Circusful, formerly known as Belfast Community Circus School. As well as performing, Hillas plays an active role in leading outreach programmes that engage young people across the country. 

Joining the Circus wasn’t the obvious career path for Hillas. As a young boy he engaged in traditional sports like rugby until he had a chance encounter with someone at university who sparked his interest in all things circus and performing.

“At university, I met someone who taught me to juggle and then taught me to stilt walk. It all snowballed from there.” 

From here Hillas started performing in acrobatic shows which he took to ‘like a fish to water’. 

Following a brief stint in Europe, where Hillas joined forces with two Erasmus students from Germany, he returned to Ireland where he regularly juggled on street corners in Galway.

Dubliner Hillas, 49, believes there is a ‘special kind of character’ that likes to perform in the street. 

“I love the random nature of it. It can be something as small as what somebody says in reaction to what you’ve done, which just fires your imagination and takes you to a new place.” he said. 

As the arts and culture scene took off in Belfast in the early 2000’s, Hillas decided to leave his much-loved home in Copenhagen to ‘catch the wave’ of the upcoming Northern Irish scene.

“I came to Belfast to visit a friend in 2001 and fell into work very quickly after having a dry patch in Copenhagen.”

“I was very tied into the air of positivity in Belfast. There was a real feeling of change, like something had shifted from the late 90s as the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival had begun and Festival of the Fools was taking shape.

“I actually deferred my return to Copenhagen a couple of times and then decided to relocate to Belfast, which took everyone in Copenhagen by surprise as they knew I had started to feel at home there.” he explained.

Hillas combines his various juggling disciplines with acrobatic skills, as well as dramatic fire performances under his clown character ‘Mr H’.

“The clown character was something that developed slowly as I got to know my own abilities, and I was heavily influenced by silent movie stars like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy.

“There’s a kind of timelessness to it.” he said.

Watching the audience’s faces light up inspires Hilas to keep performing centre stage. 

“By doing the physical comedy you give the audience permission to laugh at another human being’s carelessness, stupidity, clumsiness, mishaps.

“It’s a really joyous thing to get a group of people to laugh together. There’s a gorgeous sense of community.”

When he’s not being laughed at, Hillas teaches circus skills to adults and families as well as children and young people, a role which he finds immensely rewarding.

“The ethos in the circus world is meeting people where they are, whatever age. My job as a trainer is to see what type of skill that person will enjoy, how they learn, and how I can help them to get the most out of what they’re doing. 

“Our teaching method is very much an open conversation and we don’t have a fixed endpoint as we believe the process of learning is far more important,” he explained.

Alongside this, he is an integral part of the Circusful’s outreach programmes in communities all over Northern Ireland.

These projects include the Prison Arts Foundation where Hillas worked with inmates of Hydebank Young Offenders’ Centre. 

“We brought a group of untrusting, suspicious young men on a journey of self-exploration and self-expression where they learned to trust us, the circus tutors, as well as each other, and to gain in confidence sufficiently to get up in front of their peers and perform slapstick and comedy in an environment where being laughed at is a big cultural taboo.”

Hillas believes the social circus mission is the most important element of Circusful’s work within the community,

 “We provide an environment where children and young people are free to be themselves, without judgement, and can learn through the process of ‘try, fail and grow’ in a supportive atmosphere where everyone’s successes are celebrated.”

To find out how you can get involved with Circusful, go to circusful.org

‘Carved at the Castle’ offers a variety of unique traditional craft courses, giving you the chance to learn how to create something distinctive in limestone that is 74 million years old.

Run by The Rock Stone Masonry in the picturesque Glenarm Castle estate, ‘Carved at the Castle’ have a variety of courses for people wanting to learn a new skill and leave with a love for this heritage craft.

Nathan Morrow, founder of The Rock Stone Masonry explained that beginners will get to hand carve a v-cut letter in local ancient limestone.

“If you are feeling eager you can carve your own house number and proudly display it at your front door,” he said. “This is a great hands-on insight for those with an interest in traditional skills or to develop skills further in a controlled environment.

“Participants are taught by fully qualified stonemasons.”

“Every step of the process is included from correctly stencilling to learning how to use the tools and carving out the letters. You are guaranteed to have fun and leave having learnt a new skill and love for this special heritage craft.”

From learning the principles, through to the process of making a rough-cut, participants then pick a piece of stone, already selected for size and work, to carve letters or numbers. These pieces of stone are local to Glenarm, having been quarried there since the late 18th Century.

Experienced tutors will then guide participants through the various processes involved in a hands-on, small ground setting.

Those taking part vary from those wanting to learn a new craft skill through those with some experience, but it is pitched at a level for everyone.

On the beginners course, Nathan explains that participants will learn the precise nature of ‘V-cut’ lettering.

“To give you an example of how precise it is, it is like working with a sharp pencil,” he said. “Once you make a pencil sharp with a long lead you can press too hard and break the lead, but you don’t want to carve without understanding how to apply pressure to a pencil line itself.

“The chisel has to split that pencil line. The precision of cutting a letter is halving a pencil line.

“Participants initially don’t think too much about it but when they start into it, they realise you’re actually taking the stone down to halve a pencil line.”

Alongside the beginners course there are additional opportunities at a beginner level to branch further including lime pointing, random rubble building and drystone walling whilst practicing maintenance and repairs throughout the Glenarm Estate, alongside Nathan and his team of stonemasons. More advanced courses delve further into high/low relief carving and three-dimensional sculptures.

The courses are held at Glenarm Castle Estate and run on alternative Saturdays, from 9am to 3pm, with up to 14 participants, with a low level bench for accessibility.

We intend to release further weekday dates and increase to every weekend. Further dates will be added as required. Private group bookings and tailored classes/demonstrations can be requested via email therockstonemasonry@gmail.com

Find out more at therockstonemasonry.co.uk

WITH the highly anticipated Series 2 of Bridgerton on our screens, the Culloden Estate & Spa is helping fans feel part of the drama.

Guests of the 5-star hotel are being invited to experience the splendour of high society with a scandalously decadent Bridgerton-inspired afternoon tea in the hotel’s stunning setting overlooking Belfast Lough. 

Such a treat seems fitting for a hotel that’s part of the luxury Hastings Hotels group.

Tastebuds will be tickled with a demi-tasse of soup (a small cup to the ordinary person), followed by elegant finger sandwiches, warm buttermilk scones with lashings of clotted cream and a sumptuous array of pastries and cakes – all served in fine bone crockery laid out on a suitably dressed antique table.

Along with the finest selection of speciality teas and coffees, guests have the option of adding a glass of champagne to enhance the experience.

And if you’re feeling specially audacious you can partake in Lady Whistledown’s Gossipy Gimlet cocktail – cleverly disguised in a teacup to avoid any scandal.

Dressing up for such a sanctimonious occasion is optional but will not be frowned upon.

The Bridgerton-inspired afternoon tea costs from £35 per person and is served daily at 1.30pm.

To make a reservation call 028 9042 1066 or for more information go to www.cullodenestateandspa.com

Exclusive NI Tours new fleet of Range Rovers and XJ Jaguars is offering visitors tours and chauffeur services that transport them in the lap of luxury and deliver special bespoke experiences.

Owner, Trevor Patterson believes that personal service and luxury cars are what makes his company appeal to those who want to see the best of Northern Ireland in style.

“The cars are high-end and that is part of where we set the standard by providing a top quality service,” he explained. “It’s not just like taking a taxi to the Giant’s Causeway for a quick look round or a stop to grab pictures at the Dark Hedges. We provide much more than that.”

Exclusive NI Tours offer a range of bespoke chauffeur driven tour itineraries to locations such as the Causeway Coastal Route featuring the Antrim Glens, the Mountains of Mourne, Derry / Londonderry through to Donegal and Belfast.

Those who want something tailored for their own needs can be accommodated, as can those who want to explore their family roots with genealogy trips available. Chauffeured transfers are offered to and from the airport with the option for guests to take in some sights along the way. Equally, for those guests who are on a tight schedule, direct transfers can be offered, 

With 10 years-experience in delivering high level driving services, Trevor has been able to tailor the Exclusive NI Tours experience to customers with high expectations.

“While we operate at a very professional level, we offer relaxed tours,” he explained. “We are not about to rush our clients. If they want to have an hour or two for afternoon tea at the Ballygally Castle hotel or stop off for a pint of Guinness at The Crosskeys Inn, that’s not a problem.

“It’s all about making sure they have an enjoyable time and exceeding their expectations.”
In developing the business Trevor was keen to make sure he could show off the best of the country.

“I enjoy showing people the best of Northern Ireland, especially the history I’m really interested in that” he said. “That’s my favourite bit of the job, I’m a person who likes to please a guest. I like when someone comes here, and they’ve enjoyed the day and they’ve had a good time.”

And, one thing that always exceeds what they expect, is Northern Ireland itself.

“They love the scenery,” Trevor said. “They find the Glens mystical and very engaging. They go through the nine Glens and then suddenly they’re on the Antrim plateau. It seems to them that it changes very quickly, and they love that diversity.”

With both the XJ Jaguar and the Range Rover there is flexibility, with each having their benefits.

“Americans are very familiar with Range Rovers and with the space and increased visibility they can enjoy a better view,” he said. “In addition if they are being collected, for example from Dublin Airport there Is tonnes of space, even if they have a lot of luggage.

“On other occasions they prefer the Jaguar, such as when they are going to an evening do, or a black tie event.”

In addition Exclusive NI Tours has links with Slemish private airfield so can arrange Flexifly private aircraft hire from London City and other airports. 

“It is the flexibility that we offer in delivering a unique Northern Ireland experience, with security and safety,” Trevor explained. “And, with a maximum of four for each tour we want every client to feel that they are being pampered and to ensure they have no hassle or worries throughout their time with us.

“They want the Northern Ireland experience in luxury and we make sure they can explore our heritage, folklore, culture and scenery. Of course, they are never short of dramatic photo opportunities.”

For those with specific interest in genealogy, Trevor has linked up with Natalie Bodle of Roots Revealed. Exclusive NI Tours can curate Natalie’s genealogy research into bespoke, one-of-a-kind tours through their family lineage.

To learn more about Exclusive NI Tours pre-planned tours or enquire about a bespoke tour go to exclusivenitours.com

Garden Show Ireland will return from Friday 29^th April until Sunday 1^st May with celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin announced as show ambassador

Northern Ireland’s leading gardening event, Garden Show Ireland, is set to make a highly anticipated return to Antrim Castle Gardens from Friday 29^th April until Sunday 1^st May.

Widely regarded as a highlight of the events calendar across Ireland, the 3-day event has consistently attracted almost 30,000 visitors eager to immerse themselves in what is a festival of flowers, food and fun!

Fresh from announcing the return of the event at last year’s One Giant Weekend,  renowned celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin will officially open Garden Show Ireland on Friday 29^th April.

Alongside his show ambassador role, Diarmuid will also be involved in the forthcoming Platinum Jubilee celebrations, creating a permanent, bespoke installation within Antrim Castle Gardens intitled the ‘Clockwork Garden’.  The garden, similar in style to Diarmuid’s critically acclaimed ‘garden of pure imagination’ created at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2016, will be the first of its kind to assume permanent residency in any garden across the UK.

Commenting on his involvement and subsequent installation, Diarmuid said:

‘I am absolutely thrilled to be working with Garden Show Ireland and delighted that visitors to the show will be able to catch a glimpse of the Clockwork Garden build in real time! My inspiration for the garden comes from some of the UK’s most imaginative minds, resulting in an active, entertaining and playful space. Every 15 minutes the garden actually comes to life and engages in a short performance which certainly surprises spectators and creates a few smiles! It has been my dream to bring it home to where it belongs and Antrim Castle Gardens is that place.’

‘It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to work alongside students from CAFRE in the physical building of this project. These young people are our next generation of horticulturalists, and their enthusiasm and hard work should be both applauded and nurtured.’  

In addition to enjoying a weekend of gardening expertise, ideas and inspiration, visitors will also have the opportunity to visit the Food NI Food Pavilion to observe chef led food demonstrations and sample food from some of Northern Ireland leading artisan food producers.

The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Billy Webb, commented:

‘Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council has been hosting Garden Show Ireland since 2014 and we are very excited to, once again, welcome the event back to Antrim Castle Gardens for 2022. Our gardens are of the most unique and historically intact gardens in the UK and throughout Ireland, therefore the perfect space for Northern Ireland’s premier horticultural event. We are excited to see the Clockwork Garden in action, and its permanent residency in the gardens will be a wonderful tribute to Her Majesty The Queen in the year of her Platinum Jubilee.’

‘As a result of recent world events, individuals have become much more aware of their outdoor space and the need to create a sustainable environment that meets the needs of future generations. On arrival to the show you will actually be greeted by the residents of Scarecrow Avenue, all of whom have been created by our local primary schools using a combination of re-cycled or borrowed materials. Our schools are also being encouraged to create miniature gardens in anything from a bucket to an old boot, either of which can attract, feed or even reproduce your own version of a bird, bee, bug or butterfly!’

Claire Faulkner, Event Director of Garden Show Ireland, added:

‘Since its inception in 2004, Garden Show Ireland has grown significantly, in both profile and attendance. With the shift towards holidaying at home and generally spending more time in our gardens and on home improvements, we have no doubt that this year’s event will be our biggest yet.

It’s wonderful that after a difficult few years we are able to host a 3-day celebration of this calibre, made even more special with the talented Diarmuid Gavin opening the show! Visitors will be spoiled for choice, with green fingered experts on hand to guide them through all their gardening quandaries, whether that be the creation of a climate friendly garden or the addition of an organic vegetable patch to an outdoor space. With everything from a live jazz band and stilt walkers to crazy golf and dog shows in our dedicated ‘Doggie Zone,’ Garden Show Ireland certainly has something for the entire family…including your pets!’

Garden Show Ireland runs from Friday 29^th April until Sunday 1^st May. A courtesy shuttle bus will operate from The Junction between 10.15am and 6.15pm each day. There will be a plant and produce creche available for visitors who want to store their garden purchases while they browse, and these purchases will be allowed on board the shuttle.

Tickets for Garden Show Ireland cost £10 and can be purchased online at gardenshowireland.com. Children under 16 go free.

The Curran Court Hotel has been a major feature of Larne for more than fifty years. Speak to anyone in Larne and they’ll talk fondly of the Curran Court; such is its special place in the hearts of the local community. 

Owner and Director, Brian McRandal, purchased the hotel in 2017 and he believes that the Curran Court has something to offer everyone.

“I really believe that the Curran Court Hotel is the perfect – and most practical – spot for locals and tourists alike,” he said. “Not only is it ideal for those coming off the Stranraer or Liverpool ferries, who need a room for the night, but it has increasingly become the ‘go to’ place for the local community to have a great night out and a tasty meal to boot!”

The hotel’s location means that it is the ideal location for a tour of Northern Ireland, since it’s not only a mere 25 minutes from Belfast, but it also opens up the way to the nine glens of Antrim; making it the perfect spot to begin a trip along Northern Ireland’s world-famous Causeway Coastal Route – a road journey, which will enable you to immerse yourself in the exhilarating outdoors and enjoy the serenity of being ‘unplugged’. 

“In addition to our perfect location,” Brian continued, “we pride ourselves on our ability to offer ‘affordable luxury’ thanks to our long–serving, knowledgeable and well-known staff, who are dedicated to providing a first-class customer service and who are willing to go that extra mile to make your stay as superb as possible.

“Our hotel’s 32 modern and spacious guest rooms include twin, double, accessible and superior rooms, so, even if you’re on your own, you’ll have the benefit of having either a twin or double room all to yourself!  We also offer great value dine and stay packages and these have proved particularly popular.’

The Curran Court Hotel’s restaurant is renowned for its well-selected menu, which is awash with fresh, local ingredients, including Glenarm shorthorn beef. To add to the lip-smacking quality of the ingredients, everything at the Curran Court Hotel is cooked from scratch, so you know that everything you’re eating is straight off the grill.

Since taking over the hotel, Brian has made sweeping changes to both the premises layout and the menu, but he continues to forge ahead with additional innovative developments. 

Sales & Marketing Manager Glenn Mann said: “During the lockdowns of the last year, we continued to improve what the Curran Court could offer existing and potential new customers.  Last summer, we opened a new spacious and rustic outdoor dining area, which seats eighty and comes complete with awnings and overhead heaters so it’s suitable for all year round use.

“This spring we have carried out extensive renovations inside the hotel to create a beautiful new public bar, offering a relaxed and casual dining experience, that perfectly feeds into our outdoor area. The 2 areas combine to become Katy Jane’s Bar & Beer Garden. It’s named after my mother and mother-in-law, to encompass the family and friends feel that we wanted to create. We have also developed a new bar menu to suit all tastes, which includes small plates that are ideal for sharing.  We feel that it will be the ideal place to meet up and spend time with friends and family that we missed so much during lock down. Not forgetting the Katy Jane’s Library, which is an ideal spot to relax, meet friends and enjoy a coffee and snack from their Lite Bites menu.

“Our main restaurant is also now able to offer an à la carte dining experience to more than 100 customers!”

Brian wants the Curran Court to have a different feel to it, going forward. “Previously, for example, there was nowhere for people to come in and sit for a coffee. Now we have a few Chesterfield sofas and high-backed chairs. We also have a library section with big armchairs where visitors can take afternoon tea served in fine China – complete with linen tablecloths – so there’s a complete shift in atmosphere. It’s like being transported back to a period in time when life was more relaxed and more ‘polished’.

“To wash your gastronomically-delicious food down, the Curran Court Hotel has an extensive drinks’ menu that includes classic cocktails, a wide selection of gins, rums and flavoured vodkas. Or, if the mood takes you, you can even round off the evening with one of the hotel’s special frozen dessert cocktails! Lip-smacking and luscious!

Great food….great prices….great service. What more could you want from a hotel that’s the gateway to one of the world’s greatest tourist attractions?

To book a stay or obtain more information on dining experiences visit currancourthotel.co.uk 

Dozens of prehistoric toy brick dinosaurs will arrive at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium this summer, showcasing over 20 species for a Jurassic scale display. This is the first time the Brickosaurs! Evolution will be showcased in Northern Ireland this June and tickets are now on sale.

The towering 3-D brick dinosaurs are made using more than 2 million toy bricks and an interactive expedition will be on display at the Planetarium, making it a perfect place to visit this summer to excite families and dinosaur enthusiasts alike.

Presented and built by Brick Live, the Brickosaurs exhibition has been touring across the UK and its next stop is Armagh Observatory & Planetarium this summer.

Visitors will have the chance to go back in time and come face to face with pre-historic creatures such as the seven-metre long Spinosaurus, a nodding Heterodontosaurus and a huge Mosasaur emerging from the water.

There will be plenty of photo opportunities too, including a sit-in Carnotaurus, a giant dino egg, and the chance to get up close to nine adorable baby dinosaurs.

Ria Mee, Senior Education Officer, from Armagh Observatory & Planetarium said: “The display is something totally different for us and we are delighted to host such a fantastic event. We haven’t had an exhibition of this scale before, and we are excited to welcome guests this summer for an immersive and educational adventure.”

Brickosaurs is a spectacular experience for the whole family. To witness the scale and the detail that has been lovingly crafted into these models is something that never fails to amaze.”- Christina Anthony, director, BRICKLIVE

The exhibition will be available to visit from Saturday 11^th June – Sunday 31^st July 2022.

Tickets are on sale now. Book online today at armagh.space. Pre-booking is essential and exhibition entry is free with any dome show purchase. Separate exhibition area tickets are available for anyone not choosing a dome show.  

Copywrite © Brick Live Group Limited. All rights reserved. Brick Live Group Limited is an independent producer of BRICKLIVE and is not associated with The LEGO Group. LEGO® is a trademark of LEGO Juris A/S.

Where do you go to get your groceries? If your first thought was your local supermarket, you are not alone. Shopping in large grocery stores became the norm for many of us, and we rely on these outlets more than we realise. They are convenient, filled to the brim with seemingly every product you could imagine and have a price point that fits most pockets.

From afar it seems like the perfect solution, but we all witnessed what happened in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic turned life on its head and among many others, highlighted the fragility of our food economy and the part supermarkets play in it. 

The University of Oxford describes our food system as “a complex set of interconnected practices and relationships that ultimately deliver food from farms, processing facilities, factories, warehouses, and retailers, to the dinner table.” 

The industrial food system is built for scale and efficiency with an aim to maximise production, reduce cost, and function much like factories.

Although many supermarkets and producers are taking steps to include the origins of their products on their labels, there is still not enough transparency around where our food actually comes from. This industrialised structure offers customers accessibility to a wider range of products at more affordable prices but has economic and environmental impacts that many are not aware of.

Industrial agriculture is notorious for using a range of fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides in their processes to maximise output, some of which stays present in the soil long after the crops are harvested. The products are then processed in factories, stabilised with preservatives and packaged in plastic, all occurring before they are loaded onto long haul freights, planes, lorries to arrive in distribution centres and eventually to supermarket shelves. 

BBC Good Food reported that “DEFRA estimates that moving food is responsible for 25 per cent of all miles covered by heavy goods traffic in the UK. Transporting food within, to and around the UK produces 19 million tonnes of CO2 annually – equivalent to around 5.5 million typical cars.”

The length of the supply chains involved in industrial food systems result in a fragile structure as any slight disruption throughout the intricate process can halt the supply chain at any time. 

However, this industrial food system is not the only one available to our economy. While our modern supermarkets heavily rely on large-scale agriculture, large scale production and precise, uninterrupted international food trade and fast turnaround times, the alternative slow food system focuses on a more resilient structure.

As the resilient alternative to this industrial cycle that many in the industry are championing, Slow Food is focused on returning to the traditional methods and celebrating all things local.

The not for profit grassroots organisation, Slow Food was set up in Italy in the late 1980s in a bid to promote traditional food preparation methods and locally sourced ingredients, going against the arrival of the American fast-food chain McDonald’s in Rome. The eco-gastronomic organisation now has around 100,000 members in over 150 countries. 

Recognising and raising awareness of the negative impact the industrial food system had on society, the economy and the environment, the organisation ignited a Slow Food movement: a new way of conscious consumerism that takes seasonality, locality and tradition into account.

A slow, or resilient food system can take on many forms, starting with us as individuals making a conscious effort to engage with producers, venues and outlets that are aligned with the slow food values, to foraging, growing our own produce and going to local farmers’ markets.

Any involvement in the movement can make a significant difference in local communities and build a more sustainable, resilient and eco-friendly food system.

As the first accredited Slow Food destination in Northern Ireland, the Causeway Coast and Glens have been spearheading the move toward this resilient system and together with Taste Causeway, the collaborative network of local food and drink businesses.

From exciting slow food events to highlighting producers and awarding them with Slow Food accreditation, Taste Causeway and Slow Food NI are putting local suppliers and venues at the forefront of consumers’ minds, one business at a time.

Taste Causeway is delivering Slow Food Causeway with funding from Tourism NI in partnership with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. 

For more information go to https://slowfood.tastecauseway.com/ or follow the hashtags #SlowFoodCauseway and #TasteCauseway

If you fancy making memories with family and friends this year, discover what Ards and North Down has to offer with a selection of fantastic experiences that allow you to explore fascinating places, enjoy delicious food and immerse yourself in the beauty of the Borough! 

From April through to the end of the year, a fabulous selection of experiences will be available in Ards and North Down. ‘Spring’ into action this April with the Castle Park Minibeasts Kiddies Walk (13 April). Or if you fancy something a little bit different this Easter Sunday, why not try an Easter Egg Hunt on water with the Easter SUP Experience (17 April) at Ballyholme Beach. 

If you ‘knead’ some time for yourself, try the Kneading Yoga Experience (20 April) in the beautiful surroundings of Tracey’s Farmhouse Kitchen where a one-hour yoga session will be followed by some delightful homemade breads and delicious cake. Alternatively, the Weaving with Nature Experience (22 April) lets you learn basic weaving skills in the stunning Kiri Cottage, using materials you’ve foraged for in the heart of Ards Peninsula. 

Looking beyond April, more experiences will be on offer including a High Tea at Sea (7 May) speedboat experience, Garden Escape (14 May), Art in the Garden (20 May) watercolour workshop and a Bat Walk and Talk (26 May) in Crawfordsburn Country Park. 

As we enter the summer months, many more experiences will be available with plenty to satisfy those who are fond of water. The SUPaoke Experience (3 June) combines paddleboarding with some fun karaoke in the middle of Belfast Lough, or spend some quality time with your family and make great memories by taking a guided kayak tour for Family Time on the Water (5 June). 

If you prefer to keep your feet firmly on dry land, why not celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and take a guided walking tour of Bangor with the Jubilee Jaunt Back in Time (5 June) where you will uncover the town’s Royal connections. 

Find out what it takes to look after Castle Espie with the Ranger for a Day Experience (18 June) or if you prefer to go for a walk with your furry friend and enjoy a gin cocktail, Paws for Gin (19 June) is definitely worth a look. 

With many more Experiences in Ards and North Down available over the coming months, there will be plenty of things to do during all seasons of 2022! 

Experiences must be pre-booked so book early to avoid disappointment. For more information, including ticket prices, terms and conditions, and a full list of available Experiences, go to visitardsandnorthdown.com/experienceAND.