| Titanic Festival |
East Belfast Titanic Festival 2008
In 2007 four areas of east Belfast came together with the purpose of changing the 11th July celebrations – in other words make them more of a family event. The four areas concerned were;
For 2008 Ravenhill unfortunately fell by the wayside but the remaining three areas decided to push ahead. We decided to expand further and make it a festival, a festival for all and not just confined to the 11th July. Titanic Festival 1
For the second year running the Ulster Scots Agency and in particular Maynard Hanna were to be the main providers, not just of finance but of knowledge in how to run a festival etc. As a result for 2008 we were able to provide for the area at no cost to the public;
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It is our estimate that 6000 people attended the party in the park in Sydenham and we believe that this figure would have doubled if the weather on the second day had been more user friendly. As I have indicated 2008 was a success. Don’t just take our word for it however; read feedback from others; “Got a message from a health care professional asking me to pass on a comment from one of their clients, Inverary was the first fair the clients family has ever been at where the mum could say yes to every ride, it was probably the happiest family time this year, it was “an oasis from life’s pressures” and it must have been organised by people who understand what its like to have no money and kids. A big thank you to all concerned.”
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Sandra Workman “May I take this opportunity to congratulate you and the rest of the committee on a very successful East Belfast Titanic Festival. I attended many of the events which were very well organized and were supported by large numbers of local residents. It was particularly impressive to see ‘new faces’ involved in organizing events which is good news for community development in this, the best part of Belfast. I hope, despite the current credit crunch that another successful Titanic Festival will once again be held in East Belfast in 2009
Sammy Douglas During the months of May & June 2008 the Organising Committee of the East Belfast Titanic Festival commenced their programme of Ulster Scots activities hat culminated in the first East Belfast 14 day Community Festival during the first fort-night of July 2008. Highland Dance classes were held, fifing and drumming and drama classes and historical lectures to local young people delivered. The Festival proper had an Ulster Scots theme for its headline days with expert Musicians on stage, Poetry, Ulster Scots language and drama sessions in an on-site Marquee , all delivered in a safe and friendly environment. The Ulster Scots Agency considers the delivery of the Ulster Scots content within the Festival to have been a great success and we would hope to work with the organisers agin in 2009 to deliver to the public a wider in depth Ulster Scots programme of events. We would wish the organisers every success as they would plan for 2008.
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Brightlights
Maynard Hanna, Development Officer, Belfast, Ulster Scots Agency. We were privileged to attend the above event at each of its three locations over the July period of 2008. We were greatly impressed by the degree of effort and organization that had gone in to making all the events enjoyable experiences for those attending. As elected representatives we are also confident that these events as organized helped prevent some of the wilder excesses of previous years and contributed to a great reduction in tension in the East Belfast area. We feel that these events helped focus and inform the local community on their real history and cultural identity in a way that could not be perceived in anyway as insular or sectarian. Any investment made by any individual or funding body was in our view money extremely well spent. The spin offs which are in some ways beyond calculation include a renewed interest in local history a reawakening of an honest sense of cultural identity and creation of a very well attended lambeg drumming school for young people in the district. We would be fully supportive of any future funding applications made with a view to making this festival a regular feature of East Belfast life.
Cllr Sir Reg Empey MLA Alderman Michael Copeland The festival would not have happened without the financial support of our sponsors and they are;
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Without the help of these the festival would not have taken place. Other than Maynard Hanna we must mention Louise Little from Co-operation Ireland who appeared over the hill when it seemed that we wouldn’t have the required funding. Co-Operation Ireland financed several of our projects and for that we are eternally grateful. Thanks Louise. Other than the fantastic party in the park two other highlights spring to mind. Firstly the drama, along with Partisan Productions and Fintan Brady the Pitt Park players produced an amazing play from scratch which drew tremendous praise from many quarters. The women from Pitt Park had never taken part in drama before but in a few months they enthralled us all as they re-called how the women dealt with the horrific news from the Somme. Secondly we had the fantastic display of war memorabilia and vehicles at Sydenham. We were able to bring people from a nearby old peoples home to relive some memories and welcomed a busload of people from Finglas. All in all an outstanding success.
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Kids
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In conclusion it would be wrong not to thank the organisers, Event Solutions NI and any who helped along the way. I can assure you we will be back later this year with a bigger and better festival.
Thank you. |
