This article is from page 77 of the 2008-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 77 JPG
FORMER hostage and East Belfast born author, Brian Keenan will be the official guest of honour at the opening of the Scariff Harbour Fes- tival on Friday evening, August | at 6.30pm at Scariff Marina.
His presence affirms the festival’s now well-established links with Northern Ireland and its essential focus to forge new cross border re- lationships at cultural, political and community levels.
Mike Rodgers, chairman of Scariff Harbour Festival Committee, said that Brian Keenan’s visit to Scariff 1s “indicative of the festival’s commit- ment to fostering on-going relation- ships with all aspects of Northern
Ireland life.”
He added, “For the past five years our guests of honour have come from the north as have the many acts in- cluded in its line-up of events.”
On Saturday, August 2 at 3pm at Scariff Library, Brian will read from his soon to be published memoir with the working title of ‘Il tell me Ma’.
From bungie bulls to bouncy cas- tles, from lazer zone to hotshot foot- ball, from circus shows to puppet acts, Scariff GAA Park will see the biggest ever Family Fun Day on Sat- urday as part of the festival.
According to Karena O’Brien, one of the organisers of the fun day and member of the Harbour Festival Committee, “The GAA field will literally come alive with a line-up
of activities and entertainment on a scale never seen before in Scariff, suitable for children of all ages and set to exceed the amazing success of last year’s event.”
Mayo-based fun company, Toons & Balloons returns to Scariff this year to deliver the festival’s dream children’s event with fun, frolics and safety a high priority for everybody involved.
In addition to the bouncing castles and inflatable games, an exciting fun-packed interactive laser game arena will be set up in an 1,000 sq.ft self-contained covered space.
Another new dimension is a fast- moving competitive pony race called the Pony Hop.
The amazing Franzini Brothers,
who describe themselves as devil- ishly handsome west Kerry Italians, will perform their spectacular antics with a 40 minute interactive circus skills show “Deathwish’. which com- bines magic, mayhem, and high wire tomfoolery.
These heroes of the Irish circus scene will carry out death-defying stunts and spectactular magic giving a hugely comic edge to their whole joLeruCe)want-ni(eon
There will be an air of magic on children’s day not just with the Franzini Brothers but also with the Dog and String Theatre Company, who will bring along hand puppets, shadow puppets and life size figures to delight youngsters and young at heart.