Derry Maritime Festival 2024 returning with new city beach, big wheel and spectacular showcase

The hugely popular festival will return from Thursday June 27 to Sunday June 30, and the biggest event will be the Festival Spectacle showcase on Saturday June 29, a lighting extravaganza on and alongside the river with guest ships and boats, lighting installations, lasers and interactive crowd experiences.Other highlights include a showcase of the new DNA museum in the Heritage Tent, a Science of Water experience, tall ships, navy boats, boat tours, river races, taster sessions, the Maritime Markets and Maritime Melodies.Last time the festival was staged in 2022, it attracted 150,000 attendees to the city’s riverfront and this year’s event will again include a range of themed zones and performance spaces set to a backdrop of live music, animation, markets, visiting ships and boats, food and bars.

There will also be a new look Quay at the event which will include a big wheel, city beach, riverfront dining, festoon lighting, bespoke animation and vintage fairground rides. The LegenDerrry Street Food Festival will also return for the duration of the event.

At a Business and Culture Committee meeting on Tuesday, Council officers updated members on the Festival.

The total cost for delivering the Festival will be £530,000, with Council contributing a total of £361,000 and the remaining £169,000 being delivered through “funding, sponsorship and festival income”.

The report said a call out for tall ships was made in December resulted in “only one, Brocklebank, being secured through that process”.

“So officers approached other providers, and through single tender actions have now confirmed the following tall ships: Phoenix, Irene, Klevia, La Malouine and the Leader. The overall cost of these ships is £69,250.”

SDLP Councillor Shauna Cusack welcomed the “exciting” plan and said Derry is “always buzzing during it”.

She added: “We don’t have Clipper but we have everything else, and I’m sure we’ll not suffer because of that.”

Head of Culture at Council Aeidin McCarter said: “The Foyle Maritime Festival is firmly established as one of the largest maritime events in Ireland and the UK, attracting 150,000 attendees when it was last hosted in 2022 and appealing to local, regional, national and international visitors.”

Andrew Balfour,

Local Democracy Reporter