Launch of 13th annual festival

This is the 13th year of the Cairncastle festival and family fun day and it continues to draw crowds from far and wide.

Over the years the festival has grown with favourite events combining with new ideas .

Saturday’s launch - running from 12 noon to 2pm at Broadway includes an afternoon jamboree of music and Highland dancing and will be a taster of what is in store at this year’s festival itself.

Taking part in the launch will be popular local folk group The Grousebeaters, the Islanders Fiddle Group, Western Lilt from Maghera and cairncastle School of Highland Dancers who will be appearing at the festival.

During the event, festival programmes will be distributed, providing more details on the bands, musicians, workshops and the family fun day.

These same leaflets will also be distributed to all tourist information centres throughout Northern Ireland to help put the festival on the map to a wider audience.

The festival organising committee has also continued to develop new links with groups on the west coast of Scotland, east Donegal, and various other groups in Northern Ireland, to develop the festival to an international standard.

The festival kicks off this year with a musical bus tour followed by Scottish dancing on Wednesday, July 24, and a cross-community Bluegrass evening on Thursday 25.

There will be a traditional Ulster Scots evening on Friday 26, followed by a cross-community folk evening on Saturday 27,

A cross-community family fun day comprising Highland games, face painting activities and a variety of workshops including displays of African drummers and Indian dancers will take place on Saturday afternoon.

For more information www.cairncastleulsterscots.co.uk, [email protected] phone Bobby on 07774401935 or Larne Tourist Information Centre for a festival leaflet.