Local Upcoming events.
Plymouth Firework Championship 17th & 18th August
Departure
17 Aug, 16:00 – 18 Aug, 23:00
Newquay Bus Station, 2 Manor Rd, Newquay TR7 1JQ, UK
About the Trip
The British Firework Championships were started in 1997 by The Event Services Association (TESA), a trade body representing the outdoor events industry in the UK.
For some time there had been some discussion among professional display companies in the industry about creating an annual competition where they could demonstrate their skills.
After considering a number of venues around the UK, Plymouth became the favoured location as it was felt to provide a natural amphitheatre where large-scale pyrotechnics could be used safely and watched from a variety of points around the harbour and Sound. Following discussions with the City Council in the mid-1990s, a partnership agreement was formed to launch the event in 1997.
Since then the Championships have grown hugely and are now recognised as the premier annual display in the UK, attracting tens of thousands to the City each August.
Each year six professional display companies are selected by draw to take part – three on each evening of the event -and every sixth year there is a Champions event when winners from the previous five years (plus the previous Champion-of-Champions winner) return to battle it out for the overall title Champion-of-Champions.
Despite varying weather conditions over the years – and even a World War II bomb is found on the site – the event has successfully taken place every year since it started.
Entertainment on the Hoe
As the Hoe is the focal point for watching the Championships, entertainment is provided here throughout both evenings with a fun fair, with thrill rides and live music. Catering facilities are provided on the Hoe and along Madeira Road from early evening on both nights.
Pick-up Locations:
Newquay Bus Station
Great Western Hotel
Departing 4 pm from Newquay Bus Station. Returns from Plymouth at 11 pm, pick-up location to be confirmed.
Mousehole Sea Salts and Sail Festival
Departure
02 Jul, 09:00 – 18:00
Newquay Bus Station, Newquay Bus Station
About the Trip
Scores of historic and classic vessels assemble in and around the picturesque harbour, often rafted several deep. Home ports include places in Mounts Bay, Falmouth, St. Ives, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and beyond. Many of the boats represent the last in a handful of authentic examples of their kind. The dedicated crews brave ‘the gaps’, skilfully guiding their vessels through the narrow opening of the 500-year-old granite harbour entrance. Some, seen as the elite of classic sailing, manage this without engines, just as Mousehole’s forefathers would have done on a daily basis, hundreds of years ago.
Local bands provide live music throughout the festival and a well-stocked food and beverage tent will oil the dry inner timbers.
This is very much a family festival, so there’s plenty of entertainment for the kids. There’s poetry, storytelling, wood and stone-carving. The young mariners can also make traditional craft models and then race them in the harbour water – an event that causes much fun, noise and laughter. What might also be of great interest to the kids, is the Photographic Display. This captures village life from the 1800s to the present day.
As well as the food and drink tents, there will be a dozen or so marquees selling locally crafted goods. Visitors can also enjoy seashore foraging, boat trips and cooking demonstrations or simply take a guided stroll through this beautiful historic village. The old faded black and white postcards showing scenes of the harbour filled with be-canvassed ships are brought to life on this very special weekend.
Pick-up Locations:
Newquay Bus Station
Great Western Hotel
Departing Newquay at 9.00 am
Leaving Mousehole at 5.00 pm.