Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival 2019 - Saturday 1st June
RATHLIN SOUND MARITIME FESTIVAL 2019 - SATURDAY 1ST JUNE
The Camino Voyage: a hauntingly beautiful, award-winning documentary
Sat 1st June – Parochial Hall, 11am
An Epic 2,500 km Modern Day Celtic Odyssey - a crew including a writer, two musicians, an artist and a stonemason embarked on the Camino by sea, in a traditional boat that they built themselves on an inspiring, and dangerous, 2,500 km modern day Celtic odyssey all the way from Ireland to Northern Spain. One of the crew will present the film and lead a Q&A session afterwards.
Wandering Bandstand
Sat 1st /Sun 2nd May, around and about the seafront
A experience to stretch your legs – come along and peddle this extraordinary contraption and re-cycle music along the seafront with a few musicians on the top deck. Back by popular request!
Have a Go Kayaking
Sat 1st /Sun 2nd June, Harbour, 12 noon to 5pm
A chance to experience the kayaks and to paddle about in the safety of the harbour shallows. Booking through the provider on the day
Forage and Feast
Sat 1st June, Church Bay – meet at Archway, 1pm (2-2.5hrs): (TBC – details for booking?)
Spend an hour or so on the seashore looking and learning about what is edible in our rockpools. We'll gather a few bits and cook them up on the beach. After foraging we'll be joined by award winning chef Rob Curley (Slemish Market Supper Club) and dine on an amazing foraged lunch incorporating seaweeds and seafoods that can be found on our shoreline.
£45pp (price includes take home identification guides) - weather & tide dependant, must be able bodied as walking outdoors along stones etc. Please book via Irish Feast.
Glens of Antrim Comhaltas - music and dance
Saturday 1st June – McCuaig’s Bar, 2pm
The rich and popular flavour of traditional Irish music from the Glens.
The Funky Pirates: nautical grooves and Loony tune moves. From midday.
Sat 1st June, out and about and on the loose on the seafront, somewhere...
“The Funky Pirates” are invading seashores and streets across Ireland with their funky grooves and interactive action. BUT BE WARNED, they take no prisoners! There’ll be high sea battles and walking of planks to be had wherever and whenever they come ashore.
Drontheims and Currachs
Sat 1st June – Sunday 2nd June
These beautiful community-built traditional boats are the essence of the Festival, adding extra class and style. Weather - and challengers! - permitting, there will be sailing and racing. Watch for them, or search them out. Information on times of races will be available on the day in the Boathouse Visitor Information Centre and Museum on the seafront.
"A Taste of Rathlin II"
Saturday, 1st June, Rathlin Manor House, 6:30pm
The Manor House is hosting Slemish Market Supper Club "A Taste of Rathlin II". Six courses utilising the amazing produce around Rathlin Island. £50 for 6-courses; £20 deposit required; please book via the Manor House (028 20760046) or Rob Curley (07547804975).
Full Shillin’
Sat 1st June, McCuaig’s Bar 9.00
Traditional Irish music, ‘folk and craic’ from this very talented and popular N Irish duo; plenty of music to fill up the night.
Drontheims, Currachs and the like...
Add tides, weather, volunteer hours, interest and passion together with beautiful locally-built traditional boats, provide a week to gather them all together, stir well and see what happens. Over the two weekends there will be traditional boats in Rathlin’s waters. With luck they will be around during the week. Search them out, chat to their crews and enjoy a taste of maritime culture.
SS Rathlin Exhibition:
Fri 24th May – Sun 2nd June, St Thomas’s Church, all day and every day
Learn about the dramatic work of the WWII convoy rescue ship the SS Rathlin, and the hundreds of men she saved from drowning. From peacetime ferrying across the Irish Sea to the disastrous Arctic Convoy “PQ17”, the Rathlin’s life-saving role is examined, bringing this little-known story to a wider audience. This exhibition will continue to run after the Festival for the remainder of the summer.
Shipwreck exhibition:
Monday 27th May – Sunday 2nd June, Richard Branson Centre, 11am – 3.30pm
Enjoy a remarkable display of shipwreck artefacts salvaged from the waters around Rathlin Island. This popular annual exhibition is testimony to the rich maritime history of the area and a moving reminder of the ever present risk to a life on the sea.
No shelter for plastic:
Fri 24th May – Sun 2nd June, Passenger shelter, Pier 1
A display of ‘interesting plastic items’, flotsam and jetsam that have found their way to Rathlin’s shores and will be artistically installed into spaces in the passenger shelter for your education and amusement. Please don’t remove the exhibits but feel free to add to it if you come across something appropriate.
Festival in a shop:
Fri 24th May – Sun 2nd June, Co-op Community Shop
Make your own mask or pirate patch, make your own basking shark and other pirate/maritime based crafts (open during regular shop hours).
Grab n Go foods offering Fresh made Seafood Picnics by arrangement. £25pp (2 people per order min) for picnics including lobster, crab and seaweeds. Email: rathlinshop@gmail.com
A clean sea wall:
Fri 24th May – Sun 2nd June, Co-op Community Shop
Rathlin is one of 10 UK islands involved in the Cold Water Islands project, a year-long pilot project supported by Surfers against Sewage and Parley for the Oceans to tackle plastic pollution and marine litter. Come and see the information wall on the project, which islands are in with us and what we, and you, can do to clean up our act. Island businesses are reinforcing the message by reducing plastic waste and providing water refills for your own bottles. What can you do to make a sea change on marine litter?
Extra-curricular music:
Listen out for local singer songwriter Wendy Jack who will 'Pop-Up' in various locations during the festival...
Sea in the Lighthouse
Fri 24th May – Sun 2nd June, ‘Under the Sea’ Room, West Light, 11am-3pm every day
Video art works by Susan Hughes, made on Rathlin and other coastal locations of Iceland and Norway. Visual footage of below and above the surface of the sea is accompanied by audio of the artists’ own fiddle playing in response to the rhythms and tones found in the physical environment. Usual West Light Seabird Centre admission charges apply.
