Queenie Festival 2010 roundup
July 12, 2010 by Marineadmin
Filed under Featured
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.
Friday 3rd July – Love your Beach
July 2, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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
July 1, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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!
July 1, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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
June 30, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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.
June 30, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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
June 30, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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
June 29, 2009 by Queenieadmin
Filed under Events
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
Can you solve the Golden Queenie Conundrum?
June 20, 2009 by Marineadmin
Filed under Events, Featured, Latest
THE HUNT IS ON FOR SOLID GOLD, BURIED TREASURE WORTH £4,000
The hunt is on for a solid gold Queenie shell worth £4,000 buried somewhere on the Isle of Man. As part of this year’s 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 adventure starts with solving the Queenie Conundrum contained within this year’s Queenie Festival Programme, available in retailers around the Island. Additional clues may be made available at a later date but everything you need to identify the location is included in the Queenie Conundrum.
Tim Croft, organizer of the Isle of Man Queenie Festival added, “We are really excited to have such an amazing prize on offer for the Queenie Conundrum treasure hunt. Not only will solving the puzzle and heading out to look for it be great fun, but the reward at the end is truly spectacular for one lucky person or family.”
The Isle of Man Queenie Festival is a week of events celebrating the sea and the Manx Queenie. Events include beach parties, live music, barbeques, sailing, kayaking, diving, fishing, Marine Day and more. Everyone is invited so pick up your event programme and take part.
The Golden Queenie will not be buried on any National Trust or private property.
Basking Shark Conference for Isle of Man
June 7, 2009 by Marineadmin
Filed under Environmental, Events, Featured
A Conference: Basking Sharks: A Global Perspective: The Manx Government, Manx Basking Shark Watch and the Save our Seas Foundation are hosting a conference, “BASKING SHARKS: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE” on the Isle of Man August 3rd-6th 2009. Experts in basking shark tagging, genetics and conservation will come from around the world to discuss ways to study, conserve and manage this wonderful animal. It will be followed by the UK Wildlife Trusts’ Basking Shark Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) meeting at the same venue.
