Thousands enjoy opening day of Foyle Maritime Festival

Young and old have been enjoying the many activities, events and attractions the festival has to offer, including live music, boat tours, fabulous food and drink, displays, tents and so much more.

There is a celebratory atmosphere as the public welcome the Clipper crews and enjoy the return of and buzz of the hugely popular festival.

This evening, Foyle Maritime Festival goers will have the opportunity to give a big, local welcome to the Clipper Round the World Race crews at the traditional prize-giving event, Normally held in the Guildhall, this year the event will take place on the main stage in the festival village, called Dopey’s Den, along the Quay. All of the Clipper crews will be onstage alongside Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Councillor Sandra Duffy, from 4pm on Wednesday.

There will also be an appearance from pupils from Ardnashee School and College who will present each of the skippers with yacht models filled with beautiful plants that they have made for each of the Clipper crews.

Additionally, Mayor Duffy will present a Spirit of the Derry Girl prize to a nominated person from each of the boats to add a personal touch to their stop in the city and congratulate them on their crossing from New York to the Foyle. This is a new element of the prize-giving ceremony off the back of the world-renowned Derry Girls TV series. Each of the crews have been asked to nominate a member of their team who they feel captures the distinctive spirit and qualities of an ‘honorary Derry girl’! The Spirit of the Derry Girl award is not about gender or nationality, but instead about all the things that really matter when it comes to being part of a team, coming together to face challenges and seeing the good and bad times through. Each nominee will be revealed onstage and receive their gift from Mayor Duffy.

Also during the prize-giving, the crews will share stories of adventure and tales of triumph in the face of adversity, and with music and revelry it promises to be a fun-filled party in the first gathering of the teams all together since arriving in port.

The headline act of the prize-giving music programme is certainly something not to be missed, with the return of Seo Linn.

More than 20,000 people already visited the Quay for the LegenDerry Street Food Festival, which took place from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 July, and shone a spotlight on local businesses using the best of local ingredients as visitors enjoyed everything from burgers to craft beers. The vendors and attractions are still there and are proving a big hit.

Visitors are being encouraged to check out the Traffic and Travel advice ahead of their visit, with a number of road closures and other measures in place to ensure the smooth flow of traffic.

To facilitate this year’s festival there will be road closures in place at Queen’s Quay from Harbour Square to Queen’s Quay Roundabout. This will include a complete road closure until 8am on 27 July to facilitate the event.

On-street parking restrictions will also be in place throughout the festival, and parking will be available at usual car parks throughout the city. However, the Queen’s Quay car park will be closed for the duration of the festival to allow for events along the quayside.

There is also free event parking at Fort George and people are encouraged to avail of this facility and to refrain from parking at Sainsbury’s car park. Council would encourage people to use the city centre car parks and Magee College Car Park is also available for parking.

Council is committed to ensuring that this year’s festivities are as accessible and inclusive as possible, and as a result have provided accessible Parking at the Strand Road Car Park. A number of other facilities have been introduced at this year’s festival, including Quiet Rooms and accessible toilets located throughout the festival site, a Changing Places toilet facility in the Festival Family Hub at the Council Building and also in Ebrington Square.

Find out more about these facilities at www.derrystrabane.com/inclusion

Whilst cyclists are being fully encouraged to cycle to this year’s events – they are being asked to dismount within the event zones.

At busier times during the festival it may be necessary to introduce additional traffic management and parking restrictions and the public are advised to tune into BBC Radio Foyle and Q102.9 FM for regular updates on changes to travel.

All festival goers should also note that facilities on site will include Information Points and toilets at convenient locations along the Quay. All facilities will be sign-posted and stewards and event staff will be able to provide direction.

Anyone travelling from outside the city should note that Translink are currently offering a wide range of discount bus, coach and train services – so to plan your journey and select your best value ticket simply click www.translink.co.uk/foylemaritime or call 90 66 66 30.

For a full list of all traffic and travel restrictions and regular updates, as well as detailed information for residents and businesses who may be affected by activity during the Foyle Maritime Festival please go to www.foylemaritimefestival.com