Free family maritime festival to take over Cork's quays this May

Irish Examiner

30-04-2025

A free maritime-themed family festival will take place along Cork's city quays next month as the city hosts a major European maritime conference.
The two-day European Maritime Days to Play festival, featuring tours of naval and research vessels, street performances, cooking demos, and live music along Albert Quay and Kennedy Quay, will coincide with the European Maritime Day conference, which runs from May 21 to 23, hosted by Cork City Council and the Government.
The conference will bring up to 1,000 maritime professionals together from across Europe to network, discuss and outline a range of proposed joint actions on maritime affairs, including fisheries and maritime security, to exploring the potential of the sustainable blue economy, including off-shore renewables.
The conference, which will be attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, European fisheries commissioner Costas Kadis, and MEP Michael McGrath, will take place at City Hall and other nearby sites from May 21 to 23.
But the free maritime festival for the public will spill out onto the quays on the Friday and Saturday, May 23 and 24, to engage the city.
Saoirse Healy at the launch of the festival.
It will involve input from the city council, the Marine Institute, Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Irish Naval Service and Commissioners of Irish Lights.
The programme of events includes cooking demos by rising stars of the Irish culinary world, with a focus on seafood, interactive science exhibitions, as well as opportunities to explore an aquaculture classroom on wheels and to tour some of the country's naval, research, patrol and buoy laying vessels.
BIM's Taste the Atlantic: Seafood Experience event showcasing the Atlantic coastline's sustainable seafood will be on the quays, hosting cooking demos by BIM Taste the Atlantic Young Chef ambassadors.
The Marine Institute's science exhibition will include a series of interactive displays and exhibits exploring the marine world, from the rocky seashore to the deep sea.
The Commissioners of Irish Lights, the marine regulator Mara, and the RNLI will also have stands, and there will be an exhibition on the history of Irish lighthouses from 1786.
The programme will also feature creative activities, from street performances to live music and children's entertainment, with the army band, Evelyn Kelly and the Cork Pops Orchestra, and various circus acts among the performers.
The European Fisheries Control Agency's patrol vessel, the Naval Service's LÉ Aoibhinn, the Marine Institute's RV Tom Crean and the Commissioners of Irish Lights' ILV Granuaile will be open to the public on the Saturday for tours.
The event is being funded by the Department of Environment, Cork City Council, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, EirGrid, the marine environment section of the Department of Heritage, and Mara.
Lord Mayor, Cllr Dan Boyle, said the city was honoured to host European Maritime Day conference.
'To celebrate this event and Cork's rich maritime heritage, people of all ages can enjoy the free and fun 'European Maritime Days to Play', which will increase understanding around how our river, harbour, seas and oceans enrich our lives," he said.
Council chief executive Valerie O'Sullivan said the city was delighted to be working with Government to welcome some of Europe's leading maritime experts to Leeside.
'As we know, the marine sector, bioeconomy, seafood industry and maritime commercial companies play a key role in the Cork economy, providing quality jobs to our highly educated workforce and coastal communities, while marine tourism is thriving along the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East,' she said.
The festival also marks the annual return of the Cork Harbour Festival, which runs from May 24 to June 2, with more than 80 events being staged at a dozen locations across the city and county.
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