To Market! Grab Your Place at the 2011 Queenie Festival

The Island’s food producers, craftspeople and more are being invited to secure their stall at the 2011 Queenie Festival.

Taking place 1st – 3rd July, the festival annually draws large crowds of people down to Port St Mary for a programme of fun events, activities and attractions.

The marketplace, along with many other elements of the festival, is concentrated in the Alfred Pier and Lime Street areas of the village.

The Queenie Festival has always been a showcase for local growers, producers and food artisans, and this year will be no different.

Stallholders are welcomed for both the Food Producers’ Village, sponsored by Shoprite, and the Food Court, which gives local restaurateurs the opportunity to ‘demo’ a signature fish dish for the crowds.

As in previous years, artists and craftspeople are invited to take stalls, along with local clubs, charities and community organisations.

The Queenie Festival offers a great platform to a wide variety of stallholders – but places are limited, so anyone interested is advised to act fast and claim their spot.

For an application form and all further details, including call Tim Croft on 834494/ 495930. See you by the sea!

Manx Wildlife Trust Touch Tanks return for 2011

The Manx Wildlife Trust Touch Tanks were one of the main Marine Day attractions from the 2010 Queenie Festival. We are happy to announce that they will be back in 2011, featuring the many of the small creatures which exist in the shores around us. This attraction was especially well received by young children, and has helped develop awareness of marine life. The Manx Wildlife Trust will also be broadcasting films focusing on many different aqua themes. The Marine Days take place on Port St Mary harbour on Saturday 2nd July and Sunday 3rd July.

The Manx Wildlife Trust will also be providing rockpooling sessions during the Sure Mobile Beach party on Friday 1st July. Rockpooling is another interesting way to examine and discover marine life. Creatures like sea stars, sea urchins, sea slugs and sea cucumbers are amongst the species that can be discovered during this magnified look at marine life. The sessions will be run by Eleanor Stone, Marine Officer of the Manx Wildlife Trust.

Manx Wildlife Trust website:

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!