Munster Express Online

The annual Tramore Oceanic Surf and Sea Festival will take place on September 19 and 20 in the seaside town.

A full programme of activities for a ladies surf weekend and an action packed family day on the Sunday 20th September will take place.

The weekend of activities will commence on Saturday evening when WaveRiders Star Richie Fitzgerald will host a screening of the award winning movie at The Vic Pub at 7.30pm on September 19.

On Sunday, September 20 a family fun day will commence activities open to all from 11am at the Tramore Beach area. 11am will see Beach Volleyball begin on the beach, also at 11am a guided ECO Walk with Ecologist Grace O’Sullivan will leave from Oceanics Surf School, and the Monster Energy Ireland Skate Jam will kick off at the Tramore Skate Park. A kite Making Workshop is open for involvement at the Pavilion from 11am until 12.30 and from 11am to 3pm Waterford Orienteer’s will host a “come along and try” orienteering event from the car park at the beach rear. A Farmers’ and Country Market will be open to all at the Promenade. While the Tramore Cliff Rescue Team will carry out demonstrations on the Promenade from 11am to 4pm.

The Four Surf Schools in Tramore; T-Bay Surf Centre, Freedom Surf & Adventure, Tramore Shop & Surf School and Oceanics Surf School are offering half price on all their Surf Equipment Hire between the hours of 11am and 4pm while Splashworld, Run-A-Muck and Lazer blast are also offering half price entry from 11am to 4pm.

Classic Motor enthusiasts will be enthralled with a Classic Volkswagen Show taking place on Sunday afternoon at the festival. From 12pm to 3pm a Kite Making Workshop will take place at the Pavilion while a Kite Surfing Demonstration will also take place on Tramore Beach.

MountainZone will be offering tips and skills on hill walking at the promenade area and The Rinnashark Sea Angling Club will offer tips on fishing and how to set up lines and rods at 11am at the Ladies Slip.

Martial Arts demonstrations will take place on Tramore beach from 12pm to 4pm, and between 12pma and 1pm the Lifeguard Rookies demonstration will take place on Tramore Beach along with a competition by Waterford Surf Life Saving Club.

Guided Rock-Pool Exploring tours will depart the Oceanics Surf School tent at Tramore Beach at 1pm. Also at 1pm the Middle Earth Adventure Scouts will host games and activities at the Lifeguard Hut slip until 4pm.

Thunder Cats will demonstrate their high speed powerboat skills at 1pm from the Men’s Slip. For the pony enthusiast Lake Tour stables will be offering beach pony rides from 1pm to 3pm on the beach in front of the promenade.

The popular Klub Music will feature a ‘Battle of the Bands’ at the Pavilion from 1 to 3.30pm. A Seaweed workshop focusing on the many uses of Sea Weed with the Irish Wildlife Trust will take place from 2pm to 3pm at Oceanics Surf School tasting, cooking with and identification of seaweed will be included, this will be held by Ecologist Grace O’Sullivan and Marie Power of the Irish Wildlife Trust. Wind Surfing Ireland will host a demonstration of their skills at 2pm and they will be joined by local Kite Surfers.

At 3pm the RNLI Irish Coastguard Helicopter will demonstrate their skills on Tramore beach. Following the demos at 4pm a not to be missed local ecologist and Historian gives a talk at the Promenade.

At 4.30pm the festival closing ceremony along the Promenade in Tramore will take place, this links back to a tradition circa 1920 in Tramore, which occurred on or around the Feast Day of St Michael also known as Michaelmas Day. The women of the town who worked the ‘Bathing Boxes’ on the beach always held an event to celebrate both the end of the bathing season and the feast of the patron saint of seafarers. This usually involved the making and carrying of seaweed dolls around the town before parading the promenade and finally casting the dolls into the sea.

This tradition will be revived by the Tramore Oceanic Surf and Sea Festival, when on the Sunday at the festival close, a parade will take place along the Tramore promenade culminating in the casting of a Giant Seaweed Doll into the ocean as our seaside ancestors did nearly 100 years ago at 4.30pm on Sunday, September 20th. All are welcome to join in the parade which departs the Lifeguard station after a demonstration by the Spraoi Drummers.

As Michaelmas Day denotes an equinox and change of season, surfing conditions in Ireland improve in the new autumn/winter days, so not only does this celebration close the summer season but it also begins a whole new term for surfing and therefore extends the tourist season in Tramore beyond the traditional summer holiday period.

Commenting on the upcoming event, Festival Chairperson Linda Tuohy said, “We are very much looking forward to the second annual Tramore Oceanic Surf and Sea Festival; the programme for Family Fun Day is much larger than last year and we hope the people of the South East come along and join in the fun.”

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