Brochures detailing all the events for the week are now available in the Heritage Centre for anyone who wishes to collect them, or visit the festival page for full programme of events.The Wild Atlantic Festival will take place on 4th to 11th August and will include many activities, tours and walks to name but a few. Some of the highlights of the week will be:
Saturday 4th: The En-enactment Walk from Rosbeg to Killybegs. Family Fun Day at the Rectory.
Monday 6th:Town Trail Walk. Dancing at the Crossroads. Big Country Dance with all star band
Tuesday 7th: Weaving & Craft display in St. Shanaghan House. An Evening at the Green Gate
Wednesday 8th: Live Street Music
Thursday 9th: Weaving Display in Molloy’s Factory Shop on the Killybegs Road. Bart Whelan Lecture.
Friday 10th:Basket Weaving Classes & Craft display in the Heritage Centre. A visit to the Stephen Bennett Art Gallery. Duck race on the Owenea River
Saturday 11th is Show Day! There will also be a Coffee Morning at the Flower Pot and street music on the Diamond
Other events are Bart Whelan’s Photographic Exhibition in the Heritage Centre, Street Music and various films. There are a few great additions to this weekend including the Family Fun Day on Sat 4th August at the Rectory and Pat McGill has a great night of music on Sunday 5th August at the Beehive (see below).
Alpacas at Ardara Family Fun Day
Two alpacas will feature at a special animal farm during a Family Fun Day at the Rectory, Ardara, on Saturday, August 4th.The alpacas, owned locally, will be one of the key attractions at the new event which will also include a special electric model train display inside the rectory. The Family Fun Day, which takes place from 11am to 2pm, also has a family pet show at 11.30am, a children’s fancy dress competition at 12 noon, and sports and games for the very young. There will also be face and nail painting, teas, a home baking stand, other stalls and a barbecue.
Feast of Music at the Beehive
There is a great night of music in the Beehive on Sunday 5th August with The Burner, The Bun and O’Hanlon which includes Dermot Byrne, Brendan Quinn and Pete O Hanlon.They will play a mix of Cajun, Country, Tex Mex, Trad, Blues and more. This is sure to be a great session so come along and enjoy!
Dancing at the Crossroads
As part of the Wild Atlantic Festival Dancing at The Crossroads will take place on the Street on Monday night 6th August starting at 8pm. Join Clement Gallagher and the Ardara Ceili Dancers with the Duntally Ceili Band providing the music. A great night’s fun and dancing and everyone is welcome to join in.
Live Music on the Street
There will be live music on the Street every day next week with popular musician Shane.
Basket Weaving Classes
Eugene Byrne, famous basket-weaver from Teelin, will be making and teaching basket weaving in the Heritage Centre on Friday 10th August, 11am-4pm. Free drop spindle classes will also take place.Booking essential. €40 for the day including rods which will be supplied.For more information phone Colm: 087 3222910
Spanish Armada Anniversary
La Duquesa Santa Ana Re-Enactment Walk commemorating the 430th Anniversary of the Spanish Armada: 1588-2018.Come walk with historic re-enactors in the footsteps of the 900 survivors of the Duquesa Santa Ana from Kiltoorish (Rosbeg) to Killybegs. Family friendly event. Walk duration and length approximately 30 KM (8 hours or walk what you can). Registration will take place at the Ardara Community Centre [map] 8.30 to 9.00am, Saturday 4th August. Bus transfers to/from start/finish.Adult (over 16 years): €20.00
Children freeAll walkers meet at the Commons School, Killybegs at 6pm for the final walk into Killybegs and the closing ceremony. Find out more on www.donegalgapheritage.ie.
Family Fun Day
The Dolmen Centre are hosting a Family Fun Day on Narin Strand on Saturday 4th of August starting at 1pm.Lots of family activities including Egg & Spoon and 3-legged races, Tug of War, Stalls, BBQ’s, Music and much more! For the artistic among you, there will be a Sandcastle/Sand Art competition on the beach itself.Entry for this event is €10, with prizes to be had for various categories.Join us for what promises to be ‘A good day out’! All funds go towards the running of the Dolmen Centre.Volunteers needed to help organise on the day. Please call or drop into the Dolmen Centre to register.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the filming locally of the ‘Secret of Roan Inish’, Downstrands Family Resource Centre are offering a ‘one night only’ screening opportunity to see this lovely film.Come along and view this wonderful story, see who you can recognise from the local characters that took part, and the landscapes around Rosbeg.Admission is by donation, and all funds raised will go to the Counselling Service organised through the Downstrands FRC.A lovely evening of family entertainment is guaranteed.Venue: Dolmen Centre, Thursday 2nd August @ 7pm
Me4U Awards
Kevin Maguire and Kevin Gifford were recognised with individual Volunteering Awards at the Me4U awards on Thursday 19th July, for their outstanding service in providing free Cardiac First Response training to the people of Ardara and supporting the setting up and ongoing operation of the Ardara Cardiac First Responders.As well as achieving 4 accessible defibrillators and one roving one, Ardara Cardiac First Responders are going live with the National Ambulance Service from August 1st.Teague McFadden collected a runners up award for the overall Ardara CFR project. This is well deserved recognition for the great work Teague does fundraising for the local community and his outstanding commitment to the First Responders.Ardara CFR have secured funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development which along with fundraising monies should ensure a defibrillator on the exterior wall of all 6 national schools in the wider Ardara area, upgrade of the defibrillator at the GAA and the purchase of training equipment to keep volunteers up-to-date with their emergency first aid skills.As part of the schools initiative they will be offering free training to all teachers, subs and volunteers as well as talks and demonstrations for the pupils.If anyone is interested in volunteering they should contact ardaracfr@gmail.com or Teague on 0831 666634 or Kevin 0868 969434.
Make Waste into Art – Leitir
The second part of our project
The beach clean up was a great success but was also frightening. The community came together and in just 3 hours we collected a massive amount of plastic and other rubbish from the Dooey Beach. This result made it clear to everybody who helped that plastic in our oceans is a severe problem for us now and not just in the future.There are parts of the world which are full of all kinds of plastic which has been dumped somewhere in Europe, Asia and America. In some places there is more plastic debris floating in the ocean than there are fish! Recycling is no longer the answer because some plastic has certain additives and can’t be recycled at all!! The amount of plastic waste is unbelievable. To give you more details about all these issues we would like to invite you to the Leitir Hall on the 18th August from 5 to 7pm.The main part of the event will be a documentary entitled “Plastic in the Ocean”, it will show all the serious problems in shocking film and photos. We will also show the exciting and funny film produced by Shaun Doogan of our beach clean up and for children we have organised a workshop with our artist Niamh McCann.Tea, coffee and home baked goods will be provided. Don’t miss the informative event it’s about our current problems and the future of our children. There is no admission fee but every small donation is welcome.Organized by Gweebarra Community Group and supported by Leitir Development Group
B&B situated at Hillhead Ardara with four rooms available.Situated in a quiet area just 200m from the center of the village.To book contact Irene on 087 295 4920 Share:
The second part of our project
