Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend onto the Foyle Marina this week for the Foyle Maritime Festival.
The Maritime Festival offers lives performances, ship tours, boat viewings, water activities, LegenDerry food trails, animated zones and many other treats and attractions
With so many events and attractions on offer during the festival, it is helpful to know exactly what you can get expect when you arrive at Derry's quay.
Read more: Derry’s riverfront to dazzle and delight in Maritime Festival
The opening day on July 20 will see a prize giving take place from 5pm with Clipper crews as they celebrate their crossing from New York to Derry. Filled with stories of adventure, tales of triumph in the face of adversity, music and revelry the event will prove to be a fun filled party.
Crew members will also be taking the public on tours of their race boats, describing the incredible journey they have undertaken. There is also a chance to take a short trip along the Foyle with some of the crews during the Maritime Festival, however booking is required.
There are many stalls and attractions interlinking Derry's relationship with maritime history into the festival. The DNA Heritage Tent offers some incredible museum collections and archives from our city and district, dating back 9000 years. The team will be at hand to tell you about the new museum planned for Ebrington.
TIDE is a new VR experience by the Museums team, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in history. Become a 19th century immigrant travelling to America on board ‘The State of Nebraska’ or choose to protect an Allied Convoy from U-boats from a ‘Kite Balloon’ during the First World War.
Find out ‘What Lies Beneath’ the surface of the Foyle and Carlingford loughs with the Loughs Agency’s Marine Machine and VR Experience. Feel like a salmon as you encounter a vibrant and eclectic range of marine life, get up close and personal with a life size basking shark, and pickup and study smaller species such as crabs, starfish and anemones!
The Science of Water is a family friendly station where STEM Aware shall invite kids of all ages to explore the science of water through a range of interactive and educational activities and workshops at the festival all supervised by their very own Fergal the LegenDerry Shark.
The Quay will be transformed into a story telling and theatrical stage with Tall Tales telling stories of mermaids and sea gods, while an aerialist will perform a captivating display of acrobatics, 12 metres aboveground as she dangles from an inflated shark’s mouth. Come see a mermaid washed up on the quay and an old sea turtle called Zelva.
The theme of 'What Lies Beneath' as well as focusing on the beauty of the sea, shall highlight issues around rubbish in our waters as well. Ulster Museum’s exhibition entitled Plastic Soup ~Marine Litter in the Sea Around Us featured in part inside the Science of Water Tent.
Many tall ships will stop at the Foyle Marina to be explored during the Maritime Festival, including The Pheonix, Brocklebank, The Leader and Grace O'Malley, who makes her Irish debut in our own city.
There will be plenty of music creating a buzz in the Foyle Maritime Festival, with many fantastic local artists including Rachel Craig, John Deery and the Heads, The Pink Ladies Choir, Dougie Breslin's Rat Pack and many more.
The Quay will be lined with stalls in the Merchant Market and the Maritime Market, offering continental cuisine and a taste of the exotic as well as locally produced delicacies, dishes and crafts.
Water sports will be available to adventure lovers, from Stand Up Paddleboarding, to canoe tater sessions, to a chance to go 'up the Foyle in a bubble'! Pre booking is recommended for water activities.
The Clipper fleet will leave the Foyle Marina on Sunday July 24 from noon, with public invited to embark on a final chance to see the race yachts glide along the River Foyle in an emotional farewell.
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