Set sail for SeaFest!
Raising awareness of plastic pollution, along with having fun, are top of the agenda at SeaFest this weekend!
More than 100,000 visitors are expected to attend Ireland’s largest free family-friendly maritime festival which takes place at the Port of Cork from Friday 7 June to Sunday 9 June, with over 100 free events celebrating our oceans. There will be music from Music Generation Cork City, educational fun and games at the Kids Zone, talks and screenings at the Marine Institute Atlantic Theatre, food demos from the best chefs, a variety of educational workshops, displays from the Defence Forces and RNLI, vessel tours and even the chance to try sailing and kayaking.
SeaFest 2019 is a culmination of a weeklong celebration of Ireland’s rich maritime heritage, as the annual Cork Harbour Festival runs until 9 June and the Our Ocean Wealth Summit takes place on Sunday 9 June and Monday 10 June. Among the attractions on show at the festival is an interactive hut made up of 60kg of household plastics, the average amount used by an adult in Ireland each year.
The installation, called the Clean Oceans Experience is Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s (BIM) centrepiece at SeaFest, created to raise awareness of the need to protect our marine environment against plastic pollution.
Funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the installation will be accompanied by a specially commissioned artistic performance Fantastic Fishermen go Fishing for Litter on how the fishing sector is reducing plastics in our seas. Members of the fishing sector taking part in BIM’s Fishing for Litter scheme, which encourages fishermen to take ashore waste they encounter at sea, have collected over 330 tonnes of marine litter since it began in 2015.
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Mick Finn said: “Environmental stewardship of our oceans is something we need to instil in our children. This will ensure the problems facing our oceans are addressed, and hopefully, reversed. I’m delighted to welcome SeaFest to Cork for the next three years, as it serves an important role in this education. In a fun and interactive way, this national annual festival is helping those of all ages to think about their connection with the water and how the actions they make today can make a difference tomorrow.”
Cork City Council Environmental Awareness Officer, Mary Walsh highlighted that market traders will be using compostable packaging across the weekend.
“There will also be pirates on-site, keeping SeaFest free from single use plastics. If someone has brought a plastic bottle with them, the pirate will show them how, and where, to dispose of it,” she said.