Whitehead Festival concludes on a high note

The seafront rally traditionally forms the finale of the summer festival programme, proceeds of which will once again go towards the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.

The programme also featured a guided history tour and the golfing event, said Whitehead Community Association chairman Jeremy Jones.

“The Whitehead Community Festival finished on Sunday with a wonderful evening of quality entertainment at Whitehead Golf Club hosted by Gene Fitzpatrick,” he added.

“The golf day and evening entertainment, which was a great success, raised a remarkable £3000 for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice, which was a testament to the spirit of the entire event.”

The two week festival, although blighted by bad weather, got away with three reasonable Saturdays for the Food and Folk Festival, the Whitehead long distance swim and Raft Race, and the Mods and Rockers event.

“These signature events of the festival were extremely well attended by both locals and visitors alike,” said Jeremy.

“The Mods and Rockers day consisted of live bands playing all afternoon at Whitehead seafront, supported by a cavalcade of pristine new and not-so-new motorbikes and mopeds.

“Operation Purple, where Whitehead businesses supported NI Children’s Hospice over the two-week period, was also a great success, and a thank you goes out to all the businesses and community groups that participated.

“With any major event of this size, another massive thank you must go out to all of the volunteers who gave of their time to hoist tents and marquees, ship tables and chairs, walk around with charity buckets and generally contribute to the successful logistics required in making the Whitehead Festival a success.

“The summer festival once again showed Whitehead at its best, with businesses, local groups and individuals pulling together to make it a wonderful success. A heartfelt thank you to all involved.”