Queenie Festival 2010 roundup

Friday and Saturday’s events were a little bit of a washout to say the least, but thousands headed down to the sunshine in Port Mary for the Queenie Festival Marine weekend on Sunday.

The event ‘A Celebration of the Sea’ included numerous activities taking place over the weekend such as The Manx Mile Swim, Fishing in the Past and Kayaking, as well as live music, cookery demonstrations and the popular as ever touch tanks with real live crabs, lobsters and starfish.

Manx Queenies were the order of the day along the quayside of Port St Mary with visiting stalls and local businesses doing a roaring trade with the strong crowds.

Among the stalls were Queenie’s and bacon from Paddy’s Market, Queenie Festival chocolate from Cocoa Red and superb collection on home made baked cakes courtesy of the ladies from the Manx Wildlife trust all serving up some real afternoon tea treats.

There was herring filleting demonstrations and a number of diving demos’ to give people a flavour of the marine plants, seaweed and wildlife found in the local waters. Live music stages hosted numerous local bands and their was even a rare local performance by the Isle of Man’s MHK’s doing the traditional ‘Manx Scallop Dance’ – it wasn’t to be missed!

Tim Croft, organiser, commented “It’s crucial that when you live on an island surrounded by the coast and the sea that we really understand what role it has on our lives and how we should all work to preserve it for future generations. The Isle of Man Queenie Festival aims to showcase the best of everything the surrounding water have to offer, it really is a celebration of the sea’.

Tim added, “It’s been difficult this year with the weather, but you have to accept that living here on the island, but all in all it’s been a great festival.”

Steve and Kerry Bridgestone from visiting the Isle of Man from Essex with their two young boys Ryan and Jacob said, “It’s a fantastic atmosphere and its very interesting to learn about the Isle of Man’s maritime heritage. We have loved sampling the local Queenie’s taking the Fishing in the past walks and the kids have enjoyed steering the model boats.

Golden Queenie has been found!

Wow!

The Golden Queenie has been found by Messrs  Tom & Robert Thomson of Douglas in record time, barely before clues had been released to the local newspapers!

They found the location of the Queenie at Hango Hill in Castletown after getting their way to Laxey by solving the first 5 clues each having found a letter at the locations. On solving clue 6 they uncovered a message to call a number for the final clue,  this then directed them to a wall beneath Hango hill, where lied the treasure!

Organiser Tim Croft commented “We had a problem with the letter concept as people were removing them so as to prevent those following behind from finding the letter,  we would like to thank them for the way they embraced the fun of the conundrum and presume with such intellect they are still working out the anagram. Its shame that a small group of the public spoilt it for others!’

For those who feel they missed out don`t worry Paddys Hooked on Fish will be running a similar treasure hunt at the end of August though not for a golden Queenie !!!

We thank all those who took part and for the great comments we have received.

The Golden Queenie will be presented to Tom & Robert Thomson at the Marine Weekend part of the Queenie Festival on Sunday 11 July at Paddys on the quay in Port St Mary.

Golden Queenie Conundrum is go!

Clues to to 2010 Golden Queenie Conundrum are now available from the Conundrum page.

The hunt is on yet again the solid gold Queenie shell worth £4,000 buried somewhere on the Isle of Man. As part of the 2010 Isle of Man Queenie Festival a Golden Queenie, moulded by Celtic Gold, has been hidden on the Island for intrepid treasure hunters to find.

What better way to spend a summer’s day than heading out on a real life treasure hunt?

The Golden Queenie will not be buried on any National Trust or private property.