Ballykelly festival attracts thousands
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Natasha Blair and two of her friends from Limavady High School enjoy the thrills and spills of the fun fair at last weekend’s Shackleton Charity Festival.
COUNCILLORS around the Limavady Borough have called for the Shackleton Charity Festival to be made a permanent fixture after its huge success at the weekend.
Thousands poured into the disused army barracks to watch motor sport stars from around the country race in what has been described as a "potential international racing circuit' .
Trade stands, music, entertainment, helicopter rides and a fun fair were just some of the many attractions that kept scores of visitors from all over the country entertained over the hugely successful three day event.
Describing the festival as "absolutely fantastic" Limavady councillor and chair of the borough's DPP Michael Coyle says the recurrence of the Shackleton Festival could boost the areas tourism and economy in a major way.
“This weekend has just convinced me more and more that a regional stadium should be built in Ballykelly. The event was a huge success and was organised to the highest ability by the Shackleton Charity Festival Committee. The fantastic thing about it is that motor sport stars and competitors, both in bike and car racing, came together at the event, which is very unusual and just shows how much potential the festival has."
“I would ask the festival organisers to look at bringing this event back to the borough again next year based on its huge success, as well as asking the department in charge of the land to look favourably at providing the land again.
“Droves of festival goers attended, I spoke to people from as far as Donegal so without a doubt money was not just spent at the festival but around the area as people made their way to and from the event. There was plenty of car parking, the organisers had the event well under control and the police made sure the roads leading to the festival were safe. It was just absolutely fantastic."
The event was founded to raise awareness and funding for Lung Cancer, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Flying for the Disabled. The weekend festivities consisted of Short Circuit Bikes, Karts, Motorsport Forum, Rally, SuperMoto, SuperKart, Autotest, Autograss, Quad, Bowler Jeep, Classic Car Show, Stalls, Flying Simulator and much more.
Mayor of Limavady Brenda Chivers says that without a doubt the disused Shackleton Barracks holds the potential for a massively successful event.
