News

Sustainability and Environmental Responsibility at core of 2024 Foyle Maritime Festival programme

13 June 2024

The 2024 Foyle Maritime Festival programme is set to include a number of new features aimed at encouraging the public to consider the impact of their behaviour on the environment and to embrace the changes needed to protect the planet from the risks of climate change.

The internationally renowned celebration of all things nautical is expected to draw crowds of over 100,000 people when it returns to the banks of the Foyle from Thursday 27th – Sunday June 30th.

Programming includes a comprehensive array of entertainment and activities for all ages including Tall Ships, on-water activities, music, animation, food and drink.

The Beyond Blue themed celebrations are plastic free and will embrace the Vision 2025 pledge to deliver more sustainable and environmentally friendly festivals.

“Through the theme we want to challenge ourselves to reimagine our interaction with the vast blue resources of our seas and oceans,” explained Festival and Events Manager at Council Jacqueline Whoriskey.

“Beyond Blue invites us to look at things from a different perspective, think outside the box and find new ways to meet the needs of the modern world, without further impacting climate change.

“We all have a responsibility to address the environmental impact of our behaviour and the programme aims to highlight that with practical initiatives such as water refill stations and a reusable cup deposit scheme.
“The message will also be presented through art and performance with thought provoking animations, installations and the showcase event on the Saturday night.”

The plastic free celebrations will include a complete ban on single use plastics, strict waste management and recycling guidelines for traders, no printed programmes, increased eco-friendly energy sources and a cup deposit and a return scheme at the festival bars.

Visitors to the event are encouraged to support the festival’s plastic free bottle campaign by bringing their own water bottles to the event and availing of the fresh water stations located throughout the festival zones.

An exciting and creative programme of interactive workshops will be delivered every day in the Science of Water area, located in Coney Island zone and educating families on sustainability and the environment through games, story telling and demonstrations.         

In collaboration with the Sustainable Festivals Group, the festival has given a commitment to set benchmarks in environmental stewardship and has joined Vision 2025, along with 500 other events in the UK and Ireland vowing to uphold the Green Events Code.

On the evening of Saturday June 29th the riverfront will come alive with lighting, pyrotechnics, a parade of specially lit Tall Ships and music creating a theatrical riverscape that pays homage to the power and poetry of the ocean and anticipates the infinite opportunities it presents when we look beyond the horizon and Beyond Blue.

The Foyle Maritime Festival is delivered by Derry City and Strabane District Council in partnership with key stakeholders Foyle Port and Loughs Agency and supported by a range of funders including TNI, Diageo and Ulster University.

Find out more about the event and the full programme at www.foylemaritime.com