{"id":9082,"date":"2015-05-06T15:03:37","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T14:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/?p=9082"},"modified":"2015-05-06T15:03:37","modified_gmt":"2015-05-06T14:03:37","slug":"anchors-aweigh-at-rathlin-sound-maritime-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/2015\/05\/anchors-aweigh-at-rathlin-sound-maritime-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchors Aweigh at Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Festival Launches with Packed Schedule<\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>IT\u2019S anchors aweigh as Northern Ireland\u2019s leading maritime festival, the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, is\u00a0launched by the Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan, on Friday (1 May 2015).<\/p>\n

Organised by the Council Harbour & Tourism Section, Ballycastle Community Development Group, the Rathlin Development & Community Association, and the Ballycastle Chamber of Commerce and Industry and sponsored by the Tourism Northern Ireland,\u00a0Malin Waters, Fair Head Tidal, and Rathlin Island Boat House\u00a0there will be something for land and sea lovers, with sailing, historic and modern craft, demonstrations, exhibitions and guided walks, seafood themed markets as well as great music and entertainment.<\/p>\n

Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan\u00a0said, \u201cLast year’s festival was a huge success and we are looking to build upon that this year. We wanted to have even more for all the family at this year’s festival! Once again, we are really looking forward to welcoming visitors\u00a0to Rathlin Island and Ballycastle. The beauty of the Causeway Coast and Glens is renowned the world over and the Rathlin Sound is a hidden gem that is ready to be discovered.”<\/p>\n

Caroline Carey, Tourism Development Officer, Causeway Coast and Glens, said\u00a0“The Festival is celebrating its third year now and promises to be awash with activities for all the family, with this year promising to be the biggest and best yet!<\/p>\n

\u201cDad will be distracted by the Bushmills Whiskey Tasting whilst mum inspects the delights on offer at Ballycastle Market. All the while,\u00a0the two kids\u00a0can dress up as Vikings\u00a0before\u00a0taking on\u00a0Finn McCool and his wife Oonagh who have been interrupted by their arch enemy, Benandonner!<\/p>\n

\u201cWith\u00a0everyone else preoccupied, Grandad signed up\u00a0to a\u00a0power-boating\u00a0lesson whilst Granny is on a fishing\u00a0trip on the Lord\u00a0Moyle!”<\/p>\n

The celebration is centred on Rathlin Sound, the body of water that lies between Rathlin Island and Ballycastle on the spectacular north coast of Ireland, right in the heart of the Causeway Coast and Glens.\u00a0Kicking off on Friday 22nd May, the opening weekend\u00a0will feature a fancy dress\u00a0parade followed by\u00a0the uniquely traditional blessing\u00a0of the boats at the Marina in\u00a0Ballycastle.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of the week we will be celebrating our passion for the sea, local culture, heritage and history, culminating in Rathlin\u2019s \u2018Big Lunch\u2019, music from \u2018Runabay\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0our ‘Living Seas’ event\u00a0on the\u00a031st May. We look forward to visitors arriving by boat, by car, bike and bus and cannot wait to share our little\u00a0island and causeway coast\u00a0with the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe packed programme includes walking tours, boat trips; sports such as kayaking and dinghy sailing and both Ballycastle and Rathlin will definitely be \u2018sounding off\u2019\u00a0with a programme of traditional music including street entertainers competition open to everyone, traditional sessions in local pubs and hotels.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ardglass Vikings will be docking in Ballycastle on Friday 29th<\/sup> May ahead of their epic battle with the Currachs and Drontheims on Saturday 30th<\/sup> May which could well continue into the next day! Come along on Friday to view the long boat as it arrives at Ballycastle Harbour before setting off for Rathlin\u201d.<\/p>\n

For further information about the festival log on tohttp:\/\/www.visitcausewaycoastandglens.com\/maritimefestival<\/a> or contact Ballycastle Visitor Information Centre 028 2076 2024 or ballycastlevic@causewaycoastandglens.gov.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Festival Launches with Packed Schedule IT\u2019S anchors aweigh as Northern Ireland\u2019s leading maritime festival, the Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, is\u00a0launched by the Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Councillor Michelle Knight-McQuillan, on Friday (1 May 2015). Organised by the Council Harbour & Tourism Section, Ballycastle Community Development Group, the Rathlin Development & Community … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9084,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9082\/revisions\/9084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatsonni.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}