Get back to your rural roots at  the Irish Game Fair and Country Lifestyle Festival.

The Irish Game Fair & Country Lifestyle Festival, one of the Great Game Fairs of Ireland, takes place at  Shane’s Castle in Antrim over Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 June, 2010

Last year it attracted the largest attendance ever seen at any Irish Game or Country Fair.  This year the annual celebration of rural life and country pursuits that is The Irish Game Fair & Country Lifestyle Festival at Shanes Castle is promising to be bigger and better than ever.

Tweeded and Barbour coated sportsmen (and women) will of course be represented in strength, enjoying their favoured country pursuits, but the fabulous Shanes Castle Estate will also be packed with thousands of families with a more urban lifestyle.

General interest in customs, crafts, food and sports rooted in our rural traditions has never been higher and tens of thousands of spectators are expected to flock to Shanes Castle in Antrim over Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 June 2010.

Event Director, Albert Titterington, of The Great Game Fairs of Ireland, says, “I am passionate about country sports, pursuits and lifestyles and I’m thrilled to be sharing that interest with others.  Many people, it seems, are getting a little disillusioned with the consumerism of contemporary life and they want to find out more about traditional, eco-friendly rural lifestyles.  The idea of a fun-packed weekend of country sports, animals, natural foods and produce, rural crafts and traditions therefore has massive appeal.

The Fair has been carefully structured to deliver entertainment and fun plus a little education for those who may be new to this way of life, while providing the high level of competition demanded to attract the top class sportsmen and women who give the annual event its international credibility and kudos.  The result is the biggest, most exciting Fair ever and a day out that genuinely delivers something for everyone!”

Stormont Minister Arlene Foster with Strangford MP Jim Shannon get ready for the game fair at Shane's Castle.

High spectacle will be adding excitement to the Fair which stretches over several acres with history (sponsored by Antrim Borough Council)  brought to – occasionally startling – life both in main arena displays and the living history village in its magnificent and allegedly haunted setting of the old castle on Lough Neagh    The North Irish Dragoons with cannon, musketry and sabres will give a breath-taking display and within the village  there will be the calmer ambience of an Elizabethan household and a chance to step into a living display of Irish medieval life (complete with evil-looking cuisine).  Making their first appearance at Shanes Castle and striking theatrical terror into the hearts of crowds will be The Magnus Viking Association, complete with authentic long houses and long boats.  Children of all ages can stroll into the village and take a real living history lesson by talking and interacting with re-enactors from different historical ages.

YEAR OF THE HORSE

This will be the Year Of The Horse at the show with the spotlight on Ireland’s equestrian excellence and heritage.  In particular the show will pay tribute to The Byerely Turk, arguably one of the most illustrious horses of all time.  The stallion is believed to have been captured by Captain Robert Byerley from a Turkish officer  at the Battle of Buda in 1686, served as Byerley’s war horse when he was dispatched to Ireland in 1689 to see further military service in the Battle of the Boyne. He is also reputed to have won the first ever recorded horse race in Northern Ireland. From his exertions in this campaign he was retired to an illustrious stud career, playing a great part in the development of the modern thoroughbred, becoming (with Godolphin Arabian and The Darley Arabian) one of its three progenitors, and one with a particularly Irish connection.

Unveiled at Shanes Castle will be four well researched portraits of the great horse in Irish historical settings by acclaimed Irish artist Ester Barrett. She and her sisters will also be displaying an extensive range of equestrian and hunting paintings from their Three sisters Gallery in Shannon.

Horses in action will be delighting crowds at the main arena with horse and hound  displays, traditional horse drawn vehicles and a nail-biting carriage driving display negotiating a range of obstacles at scary speeds plus running horses and hackneys from the Budore Stud and some movie-style Western riding displays from the dancing horses of the Cochise Stud (with Native American breeds such as the Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, American Paint Horse and the South American Paso Fino), joined by legendary US ‘horse whisperer ‘Franklin Levinson, who has broken his European tour to appear at Antrim. Franklin will not only give a display of his uncanny ability to communicate with horses but also the techniques used to train horses to work cattle, complete with a ‘cattle cutting’ machine.

FUR AND FEATHERS

There will be plenty of opportunities to get up close and personal with a huge range of animals and birds, with ferret, rabbit and rare breeds displays proving particular favourites with young visitors.  Natural drama will take to the skies with aerial displays from The Northern Ireland School of Falconry, the Irish Hawking Club and the World of Owls.

The show will be a dog-lovers’ paradise too. The Shanes Castle Fair is recognised as the largest largest single and most varied competitive Irish event for all kinds of dogs.  It hosts  Ireland’s largest Gundog Event including the Feedwell International Team and Individual Challenge (this year featuring entries from Holland); The Feedwell UGRC Dog & Gun team and Individual event, The IWS Club Minor breed events,  The Massbrook Cocker and Springer Spaniel Events, the NIGFSS Gundog, Terrier and Hound  Group Show; Ireland’s largest Terrier and Lurcher event – the 22^nd All Ireland Terrier & Lurcher Championships (now two day with racing Saturday & Show Sunday),  Dog Agility Show & Displays;  Shanes Castle will also be the 2010 venue for the prestigious Barbour All Ireland Novice Game Fair Championship in Retriever handing.

Showing their canine skills will be the Calor CLA International team under the captaincy of Willie Edgar, spaniel displays by Tim Crothers and gundog and problem dog handling displays from the inimitable Dog Guru, Keith Mathews , , , who might just have some useful advice for spectators whose pet pooches don’t quite measure up to all that competition!

RIGHT ON TARGET

Clay Shooting, organised by Ballydugan Clay Pigeon Club, will include a heat for the All Ireland Game Fair Championships and a heat and the final of the Barbour Novice Championships on a new and extended layout right beside Shanes Castle itself. The top prize for the Game Fair Champion at Shanes Castle is a Browning Maxus.

In addition there will be have-a-go air rifle, shooting games, archery and lazer shooting and a ‘Gunmakers’ Row’ featuring leading manufacturers and stockists including a massive  display of guns by Donal McCloy Guns Unlimited and two displays of vintage weapons by the Edgar family and of John Rigby Guns by Walter Phelan.

NET GAINS

Under the capable direction of Stevie Munn, the Angling section of the Fair at Shanes and the Casting competitions at Shanes Castle continues to grow in stature with this year the top Hardy /Grey brand has become the major sponsor and there are superb cash and products prizes to be won. Shanes Castle will host a qualifier for the All Ireland Game Fair Championships to take place at the Birr Fair and a qualifier and the final of the Barbour All Ireland Novice Game Fair Casting Championship. In addition there are casting, and fly tying displays and coaching from APGAI in its pavilion. Stevie, no mean tyer himself, has actually produced a Great Game Fairs of Ireland Fly.

This year’s angling exhibits include one of largest ‘Fisherman’s Rows’ ever mounted in Ireland with a fantastic range of tackle, boats and fishing holidays. Female fishing legend World Champion Glenda Powell will provide main ring demonstrations and a special coaching area where ladies and children are particularly welcome.

GREEN AND NATURAL

As a biologist, Fair Director Albert Titterington has had a lifelong interest in the conservation and preservation of the countryside and it is that passion which prompted him to make each of the Great Game Fairs of Ireland as ‘green’ as possible and to create the Fair’s very own Eco Village.

The  dedicated tented village sponsored by North Down Marquees  will provide a ‘one stop shop’ for all the products and services necessary to buy into a greener lifestyle including: Sustainable Living, Home & Garden Design, Energy Saving Design, Renewable Energy, Recycling and Waste Management.

The eco message will also be supported with environmentally friendly practices throughout the fair including energy generation, recycling facilities for packaging and litter, green transport and the encouragement of greener travelling arrangements.

FOOD & CRAFTS

Fine Food & Crafts Pavilions will offer shopping with a difference in a chic tented village environment.

The Fine Food hall has a wealth of succulent delicacies including honey and the bees that make it; a vast range of fruit & veg, cheeses, meats, breads and spreads to tempt the most discerning palate.  Peter Gott, one of Britain’s real ‘Slow Food Heroes’ will be present to introduce produce from his Silfield Farm featuring his legendary Game Pies, venison sausages, and dry cured bacon

The genteel ladies from Mid Ireland Tourism in their Georgian dress will showcase  food, craft and holiday delights from their home region, offering a complementary tot of  the ‘World’s top Whiskey’,  Cooley.

In addition there will Game Cookery demonstrations provided by Peter McErlean of the Cuan Restaurant in Ardglass on the BASC stand, and everyone will be able to sample game cookery at its best either here or in the special Game and Fish restaurant in the old Railway café.  Whether your taste is for burgers, Indian, Italian, German or even hog roast; ice cream cones or handmade sweets there will be plenty of choice!