PHOTO
& INFO:
Kidzone @ Scottish Traditional Boat Festival
(Portsoy, Aberdeenshire)
June 2005
Click to enlarge any photos.
BRIEF: The Scottish Traditional Boat Fayre is a huge event!
I have already taken part in something similar
(see
International Festival of the Seas photo
page), but this time I was here in a
Christian capacity, being hired by the Church
of Scotland to run Circus Skills workshops
and perform several 15min Christian (gospel)
juggling shows throughout the day working
alongside the most excellent Out of the
Box Puppet Ministry team who would do alternate
15min slots throughout the day for several
hours.
The weather was awesome! The event was
quite quiet in the morning, but by the afternoon,
we were pulling in great crowds into our
marquee to watch the puppet shows, participate
in circus skills workshops and watch my
Christian (gospel) juggling shows.
THANKS: To Heather Sutherland
for hiring me, organising accommodation,
food tickets and free passes for the main
event and making us all feel very welcome.
THANKS ALSO: to Out of
the Box Puppet Ministry. The puppets even
announced that I was their new best friend,
so I was very honoured! Thanks also for
laughing at some of my terrible puns (my
kind of humour!)
More about the Festival (text taken from visitscotland.com)
Off-shore Highlights
The festival sees the biggest gathering
of traditional boats in Scotland since
the heydays of the fishing industry,
with some seventy historic craft of
various sizes and types visiting each
year. Weather permitting, the boats
will be put through their paces in
races while there will also be the
chance for more leisurely cruising.
The Festival presents plenty of opportunities
for young people to discover the joys
of sailing with a programme of tasters
and sailing tutorials courtesy of
the Royal Yachting Association Scotland.
Importantly, 2005 is the bicentenary
of the Battle of Trafalgar and the
Festival is registered as one of the
events participating in the national
promotions SeaBritain 2005 and SeaScotland
2005.
On-shore Highlights
And even if boats aren't your thing,
there's still lots to do and see with
plenty of on-shore activities specifically
aimed at families including:
A food fayre featuring
a wonderful range of innovative and
traditional foodstuffs, tastings and
cookery demonstrations.
Portsoy Music Festival
providing live music during the day
on the shoreside stage, marching bands,
Highland dancing. This year's Friday
Night Showcase Concert will feature
renowned folksinger, Isla St Clair,
the Bothy Balladeers, virtuoso fiddler,
Paul Anderson and Stephen Quigg, one
of the most popular folksingers in
Britain.
Demonstrations of
maritime and shore-side related skills
and crafts including lace-making,
coracle-building, model boat building,
blacksmithing and knot-tying.
A 10K marathon and 2 km fun run in
aid of The Anthony Nolan Trust.
