Saturday 4th July – Marine Day & Yn Daunse n Skeddan’

Marine Day 2009 builds on the success of last year’s event where thousands came out despite the rain for what was a fantastic Day in Port St Mary. This year’s event starts at 11am and has the extremely popular marine touch tanks, courtesy of Manx Wildlife Trust, for kids and adults to get up close with the fish and plant species that live in the surrounding sea. Around the touch tanks will be a whole host of events, stalls, live music and competitions.

This year also sees the return of the Port St Mary Trawler race! Prizes are on offer for a time trial and also the best dressed boat which I bet will be worth the trip to Port St Mary in themselves.

Again there will be cooking and seafood preparation demonstrations as well as plenty of food available for you to enjoy throughout the day. The Lifeboat, Barrule Fisheries Vessel, Coastguard, 7th Wave and Manx Wildlife Trust will all be there giving you a chance to interact and maybe get involved with.

It really will be a great family day out and if last year’s is anything to go by it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing.

Yn Daunse n Skeddan’ or The Herring Dance starts at 8pm in the Stone Field in Port St Mary and goes on till late. For those of you that don’t know the Stone Field, it is at the cross roads by Port St Mary School. This is just a good old fashioned knees up; licensed bar, live music and a great laugh. Those of you that remember the Stone Field doos from the past will be able to vouch for how good these nights are and I’m sure there’ll be many Stone Field veterans there on the night. Bunch of Skankas & The Tholtan Builders are providing the entertainment so not one to be missed!

Friday 3rd July – Love your Beach

Friday has an impressive list of events all focussed on or beside Port Erin Beach. Beach Volleyball, Scallop Shell Open Water Swims, Flipper Football, a live samba band, a limbo competition, The Fairly Famous Family and a Barbeque by TV Celebrity Chefs Mitch Tonks and Mark Hix.

There will also be a beach bar serving wine, beer and tropical Manx cocktails thanks to Martin at The Bay pub.

Port Erin will certainly be THE place to be on the Island and we’re sure there will be a great atmosphere. With so much going on adults and kids will have a great night at the beach.

Thanks to Sure for sponsoring Friday’s fantastic beach event.

More details on Friday’s event can be found here >>>

Thursday 2nd July – It’s all Beneath Us

Thursday will be a fantastic day for underwater enthusiasts. This includes diving, snorkelling and fishing. With both a junior fishing competition from Port St Mary breakwater and an adults competition aboard local charter boat ‘Gemini’, parents and kids can get involved in the fun. For those wanting to try diving or snorkelling instruction will be given on Chapel Beach and will be a great introduction to the sport.

For those not wanting to be quite so energetic we are also very lucky to have footage from underwater in Manx seas which will be projected onto a big screen in the Carrick Bay Factory at the top of the Alfred Pier in Port St Mary.

Special thanks to Paddy’s Market for their sponsorship of Thursdays events.

More details of Thursdays events can be found here >>>

Fun on the Water goes Swimmingly!

The weather was in our favour again tonight and ‘Fun on the Water’ at the The Shore Hotel and Gansey went swimmingly.

Actually, quite literally as the first legs of the Scallop Shell Swims got under way. With contestants travelling from across to take part this was a really great event to watch. Have to say I chickened out this year!! The main swim was 1mile long and was won in a time well under 30 minutes which is pretty impressive.

The Kayaking sessions provided by Adventurous Experiences went down extremely well too and I believe a couple of the groups heading out had a couple of playful Seals swimming along with them! There was also a kayak race and Dinghy sailing to entertain the crowds gathered along the seafront to watch and cheer on the competitors. It was fantastic to see Gansey so busy especially on such a good night.

Manx Queenies were back on the menu with barbeque and of course the special Queenie Festival beer brewed especially to compliment the sweet taste of the Manx Queenie by Okell’s.

To round the night off nicely Truman Falls set up outside the Shore for an evening of live music. Queenie Beer was flowing pretty nicely when we left so I’m sure there’s still many hardy souls making the most of the weather and the festival.

Wednesday 1st July – Sails and Tales

Wednesday’s Sails and Tales will be a great event for families with all the activities focussed around Port Erin Beach. Actors in period costumes will regale enchanting tales from the past around small bonfires on Port Erin Beach. The cosy Nook Cafe will be open for food and refreshments and 7th Wave will be providing an introduction to boats and sailing with prizes on offer in the ‘design a boat’ competition.

Wednesday promises to be a fantastic evening, especially for the children who will be well looked after as they visit the various story tellers on the beach.

Wednesday’s entertainment has been kindly sponsored by the Falcon’s Nest Hotel.

More information on Wednesday’s event can be found here >>>

‘Fishing into the Past’ a great success.

Tonight’s opening event, Fishing into the Past, was a great success and proved a fantastic way to get the Festival underway. The weather remained good to us and the green outside Mount Tabor was packed with people enjoying the sunshine and the activities. I’ve added a whole load of photos to the Queenie Festival Flickr page if you’d like to see more.

The re-enactment was really well put together and told the story of the fishing industry to the Isle of Man, and Port st Mary in particular, over the years. Manx Queenie Paella was served with traditional Spuds ‘n’ Herrin’ whilst live music and the Fairly Famous family entertained everyone.

It was also great to see the photographic display in Mount Tabor capturing ‘A day in the Life of Port St Mary’ from 1979. I could recognise a few faces and it was great to see some of the hairstyles and fashions from back in the day. The display will remain in Mount Tabor for the next couple of days for anyone that didn’t get down to see it tonight.

Tuesday 30th June – Fun on the Water

As part of the Queenie Festival’s Celebration of the Sea, Tuesday night is sure to cater for all those adventurous types with a range of activities topped off with a barbeque and live music at the Shore Hotel, Gansey.

There is a sailing regatta for Dinghy sailors organised by Jenny Quillin of 7th Wave; the first leg of the Scallop Shell Swims – an open water swimming event for anybody that fancies taking on either the extreme or novice courses set up by Mark Gorry; And Keirron Tastagh and his Adventurous Experiences team will be offering kayak trips from the foreshore whereby you can give sea kayaking a go,  groups will go out 10 at a time with a team leader.

We are really thankful to Tower Insurance for their Sponsorship of Fun on the Water.

So whether you want to get stuck in or just watch all of the activities whilst you enjoy the barbeque and music, Tuesday night is set to be an extremely popular and fun night out for the whole family.

More information on Tuesday’s events can be found here.

Queenie Festival Opening Event – Fishing into the past

Monday promises to be a great opener to this years Isle of Man Queenie Festival with a walk down memory lane. With Manx music and dancing, a quiz, food and refreshments, a heritage walk through Port St Mary with re-enactments, a photography display and a Manx language evening in the Albert pub; there is plenty going on in Port St Mary to keep you entertained.

And all this has been made possible with the help of our Monday night sponsor, EMCS.

The evening starts at 6pm at Mount Tabor Chapel, with your tour guide walking you through the changes Port St Mary and the fishing industry have faced over the years before returning you to Mount Tabor. A photography display will be opened on Monday night from 6pm showing ‘a day in the life of Port St Mary’ as captured by the Southern Photographic Club in 1979. Fisheries Minister, Phil Gawne, has also arranged Manx Music and Dance at Mount Tabor which is always great to get involved in.

Adrian Cain will be running a Manx Language evening in the Albert Pub which will be a sociable and fun event to round off Monday night’s entertainment.

Check out Mondays Information Here

Queenie Festival Programmes now on sale!

Official programmes are now on sale at retailers and newsagents around the Island. The programme not only has everything you need to know about the activities and events but also includes exclusive discounts with a number of local businesses, a chance to win Kaiser Chiefs’ tickets and of course the all important Queenie Conundrum.

Celebrity Chefs to attend Isle of Man Queenie Food Festival

Celebrity chefs Mitch Tonks and Mark Hix will be cooking up a storm at this year’s Isle of Man Queenie Festival. The TV personalities will be entertaining the crowds, providing demonstrations and cooking barbeques throughout the week-long festival of events.

Between writing books and appearing in his latest TV show, ‘Mitch and Matt’s Big Fish’, Mitch Tonks is an award winning restaurateur and fishmonger. His knowledge and expertise of seafood is second to non and his attendance at the second annual Queenie Festival will be a real treat for festival-goers.

As well as cooking barbeques and entertaining crowds, leading chef, author and TV personality Mark Hix, will use his experience as a finalist of the BBC’s Great British Menu to judge this year’s Manx Queenie recipe competition alongside Mitch. It will certainly take something special to amaze Mark, who has worked as Head Chef and Executive Head Chef for a number of Michelin graded restaurants including Le Caprice and The Ivy in London.

Mitch and Mark will be making up part of the judging panel for the public and hospitality Queenie recipe competitions that are currently open for everyone to try their hand at becoming an award-winning Chef. They will be entertaining the crowds at Marine Day and cooking up a treat on the barbeque at the ‘Love your beach’ day on Friday 3rd July at Port Erin Beach. Tickets will be available from Paddy’s Market in Port St Mary and at The Bay in Port Erin.

Isle of Man Queenie Festival organiser Tim Croft commented, “We are absolutely delighted to have two guests as well renowned as Mitch and Mark attend this year’s festival. Aside from their celebrity TV statuses, both have earned tremendous accolades for their contributions to the British Food world. It really is a fantastic opportunity for the Manx public to see and taste what Britain’s finest have to offer.”

The Isle of Man Queenie Festival, held from the 29th June to 5th July 2009, has daily events throughout the festival to appeal to adults and children. With competitions, big prizes, barbecues, bay swims and the chance to see and taste fantastic creations from two of the Britain’s top chefs, there is sure to be something for everyone.

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