The the real fun of the fair is on Tuesday 22 May when the main street will be closed off for the horse trading fair and visitors can get a bargain from the market stalls around the town. Hugo Duncan will return again this year for a live concert broadcast, but younger talent will be on display in the evening at the Talent Show. There will also be amusements, pie making , bouncy castles and face painting to amuse children of all ages.

Then at nighttime the first ever Autotest Night will take place – come along and see the drivers challenge each other in a series of scary tricks and manoeuvres.

After the success of last year’s Comedy Night, May McFettridge & Gene Fitzpatrick are guaranteed to have everyone rolling the aisles of the town hall on Friday 25 May.

Saturday 26 May really will be a crowd pleaser as pirates and princesses is the theme for the parade, arts workshops and kids party and Mr. Hullaballoo will be telling the tales of Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. The toe-tapping sounds of buskers will fill the air around the town as they compete for the £1000 prize fund in the Big Busking Bonanza. In the evening, the Phat Katz will provide a free concert at Six Mile Leisure Centre before an amazing fireworks display at the Comrades grounds.

There’s plenty sport throughout the week, with the It’s a Knockout, soccer competition, dance competition and cricket blitz, as well as quiz nights, a talk on tracing your family history and the annual pet show.

So there’s lots of reasons to come to the May Fair this year – make a day of it and treat the family.

For more information  see www.ballyclaremayfair.com or follow us on Facebook.

Some of the world’s greatest blues and jazz artists will be performing at the 14^th Guinness® International Blues on the Bay Festival, as the line up for the five day event was launched at Narrow Water Castle today.

Home to the annual Guinness International Blues on the Bay festival, the picturesque Warrenpoint will host Cream front man Jack Bruce and Jimi Hendrix’s brother Leon Hendrix who will headline the festival which takes place from the 24^th to 28^th May.

Performers from the USA, mainland Europe and GB will join home grown talent at the event which has developed into one of the world’s most popular blues festivals hosting over 90 gigs.

Paul Callan, Diageo Northern Ireland, said: “Everyone at Guinness is looking forward to the 14^th Annual Guinness International Blues on the Bay Festival which promises to be the best programme yet.  Jazz and blues fans are passionate about music and what better way to celebrate the diversity and range of global talent than having many of the world’s best artists perform in the beautiful Warrenpoint.  This event continues to grow in stature with each festival year and along with other special events in Northern Ireland in 2012 it is helping to build momentum within our tourism sector, an area that we are passionate about and are committed to supporting.”

One of the main features of the festival weekend will be the famous ‘Guinness Bay Blues Pub Trail’, which will feature over 60 free gigs across the 5 days.  At these events audiences will be treated to a host of internationally acclaimed performers including Ex. Mama’s Boys; Pat McManus, Liverpool’s ‘Xander and the Peace Pirates’ and New York guitar ace; Chaz Depaolo.  Other stand out performers at the festival will include Jack Moore (son of guitar legend Gary Moore) Mirenda Rosenberg, Kathleen Pearson, Rab McCullough, and The Bluez Katz Blues Band.

Commenting on the programme, Event Director, Ian Sands said, “This year’s event will surpass all others with over 40 performers providing free high class blues to an international blues audience creating the essential ingredients for what will be a world class music event. Jack Bruce and his ‘Big Blues Band’ will perform in an all-new fully seated festival marquee in the majestic gardens of Narrow Water Castle, which is destined to be the gig of the year”

“With high profile events including a live Broadcast by BBC’s Ralph McLean on festival opening night, the 14^th Annual International Guinness Blues on the Bay Festival 2012 is an unmissable event,” concluded Ian.

In addition to the international and local performers, budding blues musicians will have the opportunity to brush up on their musical skills or discover hidden talents with the popular ‘hands-on’ music workshops. The fun will also extend to the beautiful Edwardian town park where there will be band concerts, a 70-piece band and a food fest. The park entertainment is part of the all-new ‘Bluesberry’ event.

A former Northern Ireland Tourist Board ‘Event of the Year’ Award winner, the event attracts visitors from all over the world and continues to grow in footfall year on year.

Visit www.bluesonthebay.com or call the ticket hotline 02890246609 for further details (Regular updates on Facebook).

Festival poster programme’s available from Newry and Mourne’s Tourist Offices or Belfast Welcome Centre to pick up a festival poster program.

The International Guinness Blues on the Bay Festival is supported by; Diageo, The Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Newry and Mourne District Council, United States Consulate, The Quays Newry, WBR Chamber of Commerce and P & O Irish Sea.

On the 21^st June 2012, Northern Ireland will join with over 100 countries spread over five continents to celebrate Fête de la Musique, also known as World Music Day.

La Fête de la Musique, initiated in France in 1982, has remarkably spreading out around the world. This international event, dedicated to musical practice and live music in general, open to all kinds of audience is really unique.

The celebration is currently hosted in more than 110 countries and 430 cities, with various kinds of participants:

educational structures, cultural centres, diplomatic networks, city councils, local authorities, ministries for culture, associations, artists, music professionals, music schools. Those public and private organizers of World Music Day activities can show through this joint event their desire to foster the visibility of the current artistic realities of their countries and to enhance cultural exchanges.

Beyond Skin / World Music NI are coordinating events for Northern Ireland working in partnership with Love: Live Music (Ireland) www.lovelivemusic.ie in connection with Féte de la Musique (Paris).

Currently there are over 200 free scheduled to take place across the whole Isle and in Northern Ireland World Music Day will form part of Refugee Week in partnership with NICRAS www.nicras.btck.co.uk

Confirmed events so far will be taking place in the City of Derry, Belfast and Newtownabbey and details will soon go online www.worldmusicni.com

If you wish to run an event / performance, please visit www.worldmusicni.com download and read carefully the Fête de la Musique principal’s document and send an email to worldmusicni@gmail.com with details of your event. Events can be on any scale from a singer in a bar to a concert in a school.

In an important Olympic sporting year for Northern Ireland, a new triathlon has been launched which will see 300 competitors swim, cycle and run their way around Belfast on Sunday July 1^st.

The INTERSPORT Belfast Titanic Triathlon will take place in the heart of the city and is hoping to attract both novices and experienced athletes, with two different race distances catering for varying levels of fitness.

Organised by a number of Belfast triathlon and running clubs, the event is part of the Titanic Belfast Festival and was developed due to the surge in the popularity of this fast growing sport.  The race will also test the proposed course for the prestigious 2013 World Police and Fire Games.

The Triathlon Ireland sanctioned event takes place in sheltered open water within Belfast Harbour, on a flat and very fast cycle route and finishes with a multi-lap run along some of Belfast’s major city centre thoroughfares.

Competitors will travel through the heart of the city, around Custom House Square, Harbour Estate and City Centre, passing a number of historic sites and visitor attractions.

Belfast City Council is hoping to grow the race to become a permanent fixture on the city’s sporting calendar.

Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Niall Ó Donnghaile, said: “It is fantastic to see a new sporting event on the calendar in such a momentous year for our city. The Belfast Titanic Triathlon will give people a chance to experience sport in the heart of the city as well as allowing us to showcase Belfast – and all that it has to offer – to visiting competitors and their supporters.”

Race organiser Stuart Kennedy said, “Triathlon is a core Olympic sport which will feature prominently in London this summer, hopefully with two of our local elite athletes competing. As one of the fastest-growing sports in the UK and Ireland, we wanted to give everyone in Belfast and beyond the opportunity to get involved in an event in the heart of the city.

“Sports tourism has also grown rapidly in recent years with people travelling to participate in city centre events, so this will hopefully provide another great reason for visitors to experience Northern Ireland in 2012,” he continued.

“Places on the inaugural Belfast Titanic Triathlon are limited to 300 and there has already been incredible interest in the event so get your spot booked quickly to avoid disappointment,” Stuart added.

Tom Foley, General Manager of title sponsor INTERSPORT, said, “We recognise the growing popularity of the triathlon and are delighted to be supporting the INTERSPORT Belfast Titanic Triathlon. We’re hoping to encourage people of all abilities to come from near and far to take part in what will be a historic sporting event and a new highlight on Northern Ireland’s sporting calendar. It is an ideal opportunity to bring sport to the people.”

The event is supported by Belfast City Council and SportNI. In addition to INTERSPORT, the race has partnered with major local retailer SS Moore as official kit suppliers and received support from McConvey Cycles, training provider Springvale Learning and international swimwear brand Aqua Sphere.

This event is not just for the elite with many first-timers signed up to experience a challenging triathlon. To find out more information about the race and to register for the event visit www.belfasttitanictriathlon.com.

The Ulster Orchestra, Northern Ireland’s only professional symphony orchestra, launched its 2012-2013 Season (17 May), a nine-month programme that sees the music of Beethoven, Verdi and Wagner rub shoulders with The Snowman and music from stage and screen.

The UO’s 47th Season includes the work of 30 composers across 40 main season and lunchtime concerts that will involve over 30 soloists, 20 conductors and two choirs – the Derry-based Codetta and Belfast Philharmonic Choir and, as Ulster Orchestra’s Chairman Professor Sir George Bain says, “63 of the finest musicians you will find anywhere in these islands”.

“It is an eclectic mix of popular, familiar, challenging, and inspiring music that we hope will appeal not only to our subscribers, but to people who come occasionally, or haven’t yet enjoyed a symphony orchestra in full flow,” he said.

The 2012-2013 Season will honour the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth and bicentenaries of Wagner and Verdi’s. The Season also includes two special Burns Night concerts and popular classics like Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, Holst’s The Planets and Handel’s Messiah; also a concert of Family Film Favourites, music from hit West End shows and a Wild Wild West film night.

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Strictly dancers Camilla Dallerup and Ian Waite make a welcome return for the traditional New Year Viennese concerts and families can also enjoy a special 30th anniversary showing this Christmas of The Snowman with live orchestral accompaniment.

Roisín McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, the Ulster Orchestra’s principal funder, congratulated the Orchestra “for providing us once more with a spectacular season of inspiring symphony music. The programme shows how orchestral music is an essential ingredient in the rich and diverse tapestry of delights that the arts bring to local audiences and to our growing numbers of cultural visitors.”

In thanking all those who support and fund the Orchestra, Sir George said that the Arts Council invests a significant portion of its funding for music in the Orchestra and that was a huge responsibility for them and the Board of the Ulster Orchestra as well.

“I want to thank the Arts Council for its support; its continued recognition that a symphony orchestra is a crucial part of cultural life here, and the value it places on having a full-time professional symphony orchestra for Northern Ireland,” he said.

“We will need to do more with less, as these are tough times for everyone, but we welcome the Arts Council’s continued faith in us. We see ourselves as part of the community and are committed to bringing classical music to more people.”

Principal Conductor JoAnn Falletta said she is also looking forward to the new Season and working with the musicians, many of whom, like her, come from overseas. She also said that she is doing her bit to promote Northern Ireland by exporting the music of its finest composers back to her native United States.

The acclaimed New York conductor said, “Coming to Belfast has opened up a whole new world to me, especially the fantastic music of local Irish composers: composers such as Sir Hamilton Harty, Howard Ferguson and John Ernest Moeran. I want people in the US to enjoy these great treasures.”
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As Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Virginia Symphony orchestras, she will conduct Harty’s Irish Symphony in Buffalo in the autumn of 2013 and Moeran’s Cello Concerto in Virginia during its 2013-2014 Season. She also has plans to conduct Howard Ferguson’s Piano Concerto in the United States.

“People in the US have not heard these composers yet, but are excited about hearing the sound of Northern Ireland. Many of our audience members tell me how much they want to visit Belfast to hear the Ulster Orchestra,” she added.

As JoAnn takes local classical music to American audiences, she is pleased that the Ulster Orchestra’s new Season includes a number of her classical music compatriots, composers such as John Adams, Aaron Jay Kernis and the great George Gershwin.

The Ulster Orchestra’s new Season opens on 14 September 2012. Ten days earlier, at the Season taster concert ‘Your Starter for 10!’ concertgoers can get a taste of what the Season has in store for just £10.

Tickets for the 2012-2013 Season go on sale on 18 July and range from £6-£28 and are available from ulsterorchestra.com or 028 9023 9955.

Belfast will see a world record attempt for the most number of makes and models of motorcycles in a single parade. The IAM Titanic World Record Challenge will take place on Friday 22 June.

Motorcyclists from road safety charity the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) are inviting Ireland’s bikers to join them and ride their way into the record books. The current record is 138 makes and models at an event organised by the KillSpills Campaign in 2007.
The parade organised by the Quay Vipers Motorcycle Club, will assemble near the slipway where the world’s most famous ship Titanic was built and adjacent to the new iconic building and exhibition centre Titanic, Belfast. The attempt will follow a two-mile route to the City Hall and back again to the starting point for a bikers’ barbecue. The world record attempt will be started by local boxing hero Wayne Pocket McCullough, Olympic silver medallist and former WBC Bantamweight and Commonwealth champion.

Other sponsors of this event are Adelaide Insurance Services, Days Hotel, Stena Line and Bikesafe.
The record attempt will begin at 7pm and is part of a week-long tour of Britain and Ireland to raise awareness of road safety and money for charity.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “It doesn’t matter if you have a 1200cc Harley of a 50cc moped, we want to see as many two-wheelers as possible join us so that we smash the world record. It’s for a great cause and will also be a terrific night out. “
Riders can sign up for the world-record team here: http://www.iam.org.uk/worldrecordattempt

To mark 100 years since its sinking, one of Belfast’s most prominent playwrights, Martin Lynch, turns his attention to the legendary Titanic story.

The Titanic Boys, tells the true, untold story of nine young Harland & Wolff men who uniquely built, sailed and died on the RMS Titanic.

Two weeks before the Titanic sailed, designer Thomas Andrews walked into the four main trade workshops at Harland and Wolff and asked each foreman to name his best apprentice. When the bosses nominated four young men, Andrews informed the stunned apprentices they were joining himself and four senior tradesmen to sail on Titanic’s maiden voyage to New York as members of the H&W Guarantee Group.

The Titanic Boys brings the Titanic story back to where it all began – Belfast. Heart-warming and heart-breaking, this story of nine men who knew the Titanic better than anyone else in the world is truly remarkable. Laced with Lynch’s renowned capacity for capturing Belfast character and humour, this is one not to be missed!

The Titanic Boys opens at the Grand Opera House on Wednesday 8^th August and runs until Saturday 25^th August. Ticket prices start at £12 and can be purchased via telephone on 9024 1919, online at www.goh.co.uk or in person at the theatre’s Box Office.

See a clip from the exclusive preview here, thanks to Discover NI

Tickets have been launched for Land of Giants, one of the most exciting and surprising events ever seen in Ireland.

The once-in-a-lifetime experience will be staged in Belfast at the Titanic Slipways on the 30 June in front of 18,000 stunned spectators.

Audiences will be treated to an astonishing mix of state-of-the-art digital animation, dramatic special effects, fireworks, gravity defying aerial performances all played out on a stage almost 200 metres long – even the Titanic Belfast building gets a starring role.

Giant letters spelling LAND OF GIANTS TICKETS helped announce the launch – each letter was held by one of nineteen specially trained performers from Belfast Circus School. Each of the perfectly honed artists has undergone intensive preparations that will enable them to undertake the technically challenging set pieces happening throughout the 45 minute extravaganza on 30 June.

Tickets, which cost £10 for an adult, £6 concession and £28 for a family, are available from the Belfast Welcome Centre with the option of booking online at www.gotobelfast.com, via telephone on + 44 2890246609, or in person at the Welcome Centre in Belfast’s city centre.

Learn more about Land of Giants via their Facebook page,
facebook.com/landofgiantsni, Twitter account @landofgiantsni – or their website, www.landofgiants.info.

Presenter Linley Hamilton with Soprano Rebekah Coffey and The Mayor of North Down, Councillor James McKerrow launch the free tickets for The Ulster Orchestra’s Special Jubilee Concert, taking place in Castle Park, Bangor this June Bank Holiday weekend.

Music lovers are to be treated to a feast when a spectacular line-up of musicians will be taking to the stage to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The grand finale of this special two day event, on Monday June 4th, will be an open-air concert performed by the Ulster Youth Jazz Orchestra and The Ulster Orchestra. The wonderful Youth Jazz Orchestra will take to the stage at 6pm followed at 8pm by The Ulster Orchestra. Presented by Linley Hamilton and conducted by Stephen Bell, this special Jubilee concert will also feature international soprano star Rebekah Coffey performing to her home crowd! Join us as they perform popular classics from around the world – from Tchaikovsky to Morriconi concluding with Rebekah performing Lerner & Loewe’s beautiful “I Could Have Danced All Night” as finale.

Rebekah Coffey is fast becoming a household name in her native Northern Ireland. The winner of the 2004-2006 Young Artist Platform Scheme, she has seen her career develop on both the operatic stage and the concert platform.

Newtownards-born Rebekah has performed roles with Opera North, English Touring Opera, Opera Theatre Company, Castleward Opera, Buxton Festival, Opera 2005, Lyric Opera, Castleward Opera. She has also performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, Buxton Festival and Belfast Festival at Queens. In 2009, Rebekah made her Proms debut at Proms in the Park at Hillsborough Castle and recent débuts have also included her appearance on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night performing an evening of Gilbert and Sullivan music with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

The evening will conclude at 10.30pm when you’ll see the Town Hall move like it’s never moved before with a spectacular 3D Light Projection Show followed by the National Lighting of the Jubilee Beacon.
Please note the Monday evening activities are by ticket only. Tickets are free and are currently available for collection only from Bangor Leisure Centre, North Down Museum, Bangor Tourist Information Centre, Bangor Library and Holywood Library, however availability is limited so don’t delay, get your tickets now and come to Bangor to celebrate the Jubilee in style! Don’t forget to bring your picnic but please note that alcohol will not be permitted at this event.
For further information, please phone our Tourist Information Centre on: 028 9127 0069 or visit www.northdowntourism.com

When I received an email last week inviting me and a guest to sample Chris Bell’s Great British Olympian Menu at the River Room Restaurant in the Galgorm Resort I didn’t have to be asked twice!

If there is food involved we are there!  And not being accustomed to posh nosh we there was some trepidation in the air on the way to Ballymena.

However, we were greeted so warmly by the staff and Chris himself who went to great lengths to put us at our ease we soon relaxed  to begin our olympic, gastronomic journey. Having watched most of the GBM NI heats on tv I was familiar with some of the menu, but not all of it – and to say it was a treat is a gross understatement. You can read the menu for yourself below which was full of lots of wonderful flavours I had certainly never had the pleasure of tasting before!

Our compliments to the Chef for an outstanding menu which cannot fail to please the most discerning diner (never mind the couple from Upperlands who looked as if they had broken in!)  But don’t take my word for it. Go along to the River Room yourself and make your own mind up. Now snails in the fish course may not be to everyone’s taste but that’s OK – Chris generously offered to be flexible with that particular course – so if scallops are your thing then that’s not a problem.

We were asked what our favourite dish was… …so hard to decide but I really loved the rabbit tea….. and the better half of me? Well having the sweetest tooth known to man he really enjoyed the dessert of Jasmine, Apricots and Pistachio!

Just a word of praise also to the staff on hand – all of whom were excellent.

You can read more about the restaurant at www.galgorm.com, find them on facebook at www.facebook.com/galgorm or follow chris on twitter at www.twitter.com/chrisbell77 – who always has the good grace to reply.

Many thanks again to Chris and the Galgorm for their faultless hospitality. Recently awarded Best Hotel Restaurant for their region of Antrim in the All Ireland Irish Restaurant Awards 2012 –  we would like to take this opportunity to wish Chris and the River Room every success in the All Ireland Finals on the 14th May at the Burlington Hotel Dublin.

Chris Bell will be serving his menu from BBC 2’s The Great British Menu at Galgorm Resort & Spa’s River Room Restaurant until June 3^rd. For reservations, contact The River Room on 02825 881001.