Quayside Family Fun

Street Performers AHOY!

This year we are delighted to bring to you some of Belfast and NI’s funniest comedy street performers. The quaysides will come alive with slapstick Belfast banter and interactive stilt-walking pirates to our roving deep-sea divers and Big Heads. Watch out for our singing mermaid and before you see them you will hear our two very posh vintage ducks who are great quack and play a wonderful kazoo!

Keep an eye out for our Belfast Grannies Maybel and Beryl who are on a wee day trip out to Titanic Quarter. The duo, very protective of their rather large pram are out and about to make sure all our visitors are up to no badness and home in time for their tea. A pure geg, not to be missed!

Prepare for nautical nonsense galore as Captain Ramsey returns. This Salty Seadog with a love of bizarre sea shanties is bound to leave you clutching your sides with laughter.

Plus, look out for Jethro the West Country Fisherman and his extra-long fishing rod – this avid fisherman will take any chance to see what he can catch.

Street shows – the YARRR Factor!

Join an array of performers who are ready to WOW you with their acrobatic skills and tales of the sea.

Captain Morgan has sailed the seven seas, travelling to distant lands and picking up skills wherever he goes – his street show involves gasp-inducing skills including knife juggling, diabolo skills, balancing and plenty of humour for all ages.

Catch a glimpse of Belfast duo Babcock and Bobbins. Not only a couple of jugglers from Norn Iron, Bob and Bob have been wow-ing us all for years with their dazzling circus skills and stiltwalking juggling. Check them out Saturday and Sunday.

Granuaile is an interactive character on hand to teach you the ways of the sea! She tells stories of daring adventures on the high seas, plays games with the audience, and sings entertaining sea shanties. Granuaile is joined by her two very loud and raucous pirates.

All shows last 10-15 minutes, remember to keep your distance from others when enjoying the show!

Currach Circus

12pm & 3pm
Sat 4 & Sun 5 Sept
Between Lagan Lookout and Queens Bridge

The Lagan Currach group has come together with local circus artists and contemporary dancers to create a unique and revolutionary live performance celebrating the work, the laughter, and the stories of life on the Currach. The spirit of community is at the heart of these two groups and using modern circus, movement and the equipment of the Currach, these two vibrant groups of people will join forces for something never seen before, and most definitely not to be missed. Devised by Jacob Anderson.

Artemis Technologies

11am - 4pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th Sept
Hamilton Dock

Artemis Technologies is an applied technologies spin off from the successful Artemis Racing America’s Cup team. The company was founded in 2017 to commercialise the hydro-foiling and tool chain intellectual property developed by the team over the last seven years. Artemis Technologies has developed a new approach to maritime design, more in line with aerospace and motorsport, using bespoke simulation and performance prediction tools to develop digital twins in the design process, and utilise new lightweight structures and modern manufacturing techniques. They are now taking this approach to the commercial maritime world, and is on a mission to take a global lead in the decarbonisation of the maritime industry.

The choice of Belfast as their base is an obvious one, given the rich shipbuilding heritage of the city and Northern Ireland’s incredible depth of talent in the spheres of aerospace and composite manufacturing. Combined with their knowhow in advanced yacht design, gained at the very height of competitive sailing as sister company to the Artemis Racing team (a veteran of several America’s Cups), there is a huge opportunity for this part of the world to harness those capabilities and make a global impact. Visit them during the Belfast Maritime Weekender to find out more!

Sea Life Through a Lens

11am - 5pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th Sept
Hamilton Dock

Have you ever thought about what kind of weird and wriggly creatures live under the surface of your local river?  Well, pond-er no longer!  Get a closer look at the microscopic magic that lives beneath the waves – near, far and even in the ancient past.

Bring your family and friends along to meet to some of W5’s Education Team, on the green, at this year’s Maritime Festival. Take a moment to stop and look at some of the creatures up close under the microscope, and find out what really does lurk in our River Lagan and local waters, both past and present.

Aquavate: Art Installation

Sat 4 & Sun 5 Sept
ARC footbridge towards SS Nomadic

Ellie Niblock is a Northern Irish artist based in London. She will be creating a colourful mixed-media sculptural installation of imagined sea creatures, surfacing from the Lagan. The pieces were created in response to interactions, conversations and little clay sculptures made with members of the public who work, rest and play along the River Lagan.

Live Street Art in partnership with Hit the North

Saturday 4 September
Under the M3 bridge on Queens Quay

Local street artists FGB and DMC will be adding some colour and fun under the M3 bridge on Queens Quay on Saturday 4 September, don’t miss their amazing artwork developing live throughout the day.

For more information on the Hit the North Street Art Festival happening on Sunday 5 September across Belfast, visit www.seedheadarts.com/street-art/hit-the-north.

International Dance Performances

We’ve teamed up with ArtsEkta to bring to you a touch of cultural diversity and international dance along the quayside. Ireland’s leading Bollywood dance troupe, the South Asian Dance Academy, will amaze us with their famous Bollywood & classical performances over the weekend, as well as Chinese fan dancers and flamenco dancers. Catch them at the stretch tent beside the Big Fish at various times over the weekend.

Pop Up Dance at the Belfast Buoys

11.30am, 12pm and 12.30pm
Sat 4th September
The Belfast Buoys

DU Dance NI youth dance groups from Belfast & Dungannon will be popping up at the Belfast Buoys at the Arc behind the SSE Arena. We are delighted to showcase such local talent and welcome these young kids as they dazzle you with their innovative contemporary dance skills.

Ajendance

1pm - 3pm
Various Locations
Sat 4th & Sun 5th Sept

Ajendance have been running for over ten years and cater dance and movement classes for all ages and abilities from 18months to adults wanting to further their career in the arts. We aim to INSPIRE our dancers each time they step into our studios in Belfast and Banbridge. We also push all our dancers to be CREATIVE while EDUCATING them in the foundations of many dance styles. We love to step out of the studio and perform in events such as this it gives our young creatives the chance to showcase their talents to the public.

Sea Creature Dance Picnics

12pm – 3pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th September
Donegall Quay close to the Big Fish

Bring along your own picnic blanket and set up beside our Sea Creature Dance Picnic hosted by Jump, Jiggle & Jive. Suitable for ages 1-7, dance around like creatures of the sea, hunting for sharks and chasing the pirates away! Drop-in sessions last 20 minutes and run from 12pm – 3pm each day.

Early morning sessions are also available both days for children with additional needs. Please note, these must be booked in advance via the link below. Spaces will be available to book online from 21 August 2021.

Traditional Demonstrations and Displays

11am-4pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th September
Titanic Slipways

Head down to the Titanic Slipways to see an array of Traditional Displays and Demonstrations, including: Traditional Rope Making Demonstrations, Curragh Building Demonstrations and Traditional Boat Displays

Royal Airforce Fly past

Sunday 5 September
Queens Quay

Visitors to the second day of the Belfast Maritime Weekender can enjoy the spectacular sights and sounds of a commemorative Royal Air Force fly-past to celebrate the RAF’s rich history in Northern Ireland.

The Battle of Britain was one of the most crucial stages of the Second World War and the RAF’s famous ‘Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’ which operates 6 Spitfires, will see aircraft ‘Spitfire Mk Vb AB910’ perform a flypast over the city as part of the Maritime Weekender.

A little bit of history

 Spitfire Mk Vb AB910 flew 143 operational missions in a remarkable wartime history that spanned almost 3 years on ‘ops’. Initially allocated to 222 (Natal) Sqn at North Weald in August 1941, the aircraft was damaged during a forced landing at Lympne within days of arriving. After repair, it was re-allocated to 130 Sqn at Perranporth, Cornwall, flying convoy protection patrols and escorting daylight bombing raids.

In June 1942, the aircraft was delivered to 133 (Eagle) Sqn at Biggin Hill. ‘AB’ flew 29 ‘ops’ with this unit, including four sorties on 19 August 1942 during the fierce aerial battle in support of Operation ‘Jubilee’, the Dieppe Raid. One of her pilots, Flt Sgt ‘Dixie’ Alexander, was credited with destroying a Dornier 217 bomber in AB910 during these combats.

AB910 continued to fly operationally up to July 1944, serving with 242, 416 and 402 (RCAF) Sqns, flying numerous cover patrols with the latter over the D-Day invasion beach heads on 6 June 1944 and afterwards.

From mid-July 1944, AB910 was relegated to support duties, initially with 53 OTU at Hibaldstow and later 527 Sqn (a radar calibration unit).

On 14 February 1945, whilst at Hibaldstow, ‘AB’ famously flew with a girl on the tail! LACW Margaret Horton, a WAAF ground-crew fitter, was sitting on the tail whilst the aircraft taxied out to the take-off point (as was standard practice in rough weather) without the pilot, Flt Lt Neil Cox DFC*, realising her presence. He then took off with Margaret still there. The combination of her weight on the tail and her grip on the elevator very nearly had disastrous results, but fortunately Neil was able to maintain control and one circuit later he landed with a considerably shaken WAAF still wrapped around the fin.

Post-war, ‘AB’ was ‘demobbed’ and flew as an air racer for 6 years before being returned to Vickers- Armstrong for refurbishment in 1953.  After this it was displayed regularly by the renowned Spitfire test pilot Jeffrey Quill until being donated by the company to the BBMF in 1965.

AB910 is now painted in the colour scheme of a 64 Sqn Spitfire at the time of ‘D-Day,’ with full invasion stripes. Spitfire Mk Vb BM327, ‘SH-F’, named “Peter John I”, was the personal aircraft of Flt Lt Tony Cooper, one of the flight commanders on 64 Sqn in 1944.

It is remarkable to think that this Spitfire that is such an established part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s fleet was involved in these dangerous and violent air combats almost 75 years ago.

The mission of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is to maintain the priceless artefacts of our national heritage in airworthy condition to commemorate those who have fallen in the service of this country, to promote the modern-day Air Force and to inspire future generations.  Flown by regular serving RAF aircrew, we welcome ‘Spitfire Mk Vb AB910 and its crew into the Belfast Skies this coming weekend.

The Irish Coastal Rowing Federation

11am-4pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th September
Titanic Slipways

The Irish Coastal Rowing Federation is the National Governing Body for Coastal Rowing in Ireland.  It was set up to assist and develop Coastal Rowing as a sport.  The Federation has nearly three thousand members throughout Ireland and two separate Associations in Northern Ireland, Antrim with four Clubs and Down with 10 Clubs.  The sport attracts all age groups and genders from 11-year-olds to whatever.  The Clubs are always open for new membership and have regular training and local, national and international competitions. We look forward to having them at the Belfast Maritime Weekender.