Waterford Tall Ships Festival. 30 June - 3 July

cocoshovel

Shame a big dirty traveller family had to come into the park and start roaring and screaming, throwing things at each other right in front of the playground. The gardai were on hand after about 10 mins but they had either split up or went silent when they arrived so they weren't spoken too.

munster_mafia

Really enjoyed the last few days, and it's great that spraoi is only around the corner. Bolten st was a decent venue but wasn't full at all. Why didn't they release more tickets or was it just people not showing up? Only made it into the Waterboys, who I personally taught were very poor, and so did the majority around me. Heard similar about Bryan Ferry also. Woul have taught one big gig on the Saturday night with a higher calibre act would have been more suitable.

Finnbar01

munster_mafia wrote: »

Really enjoyed the last few days, and it's great that spraoi is only around the corner. Bolten st was a decent venue but wasn't full at all. Why didn't they release more tickets or was it just people not showing up? Only made it into the Waterboys, who I personally taught were very poor, and so did the majority around me. Heard similar about Bryan Ferry also. Woul have taught one big gig on the Saturday night with a higher calibre act would have been more suitable.

I think a lot of people applied to get tickets but probably had no intentions of going but realised they might change their mind at the last minute.

Next time round, they should charge for the tickets perhaps? Maybe a fiver or something.

Kanoe

nationwide tonight 7.30 from the quays, should be good.

JPA

Kanoe wrote: »

nationwide tonight 7.30 from the quays, should be good.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1103242

mike65

I wished I'd known about the MILF and Hotties boat.

KevIRL

Nice few snaps on The Journal

http://www.thejournal.ie/tall-ships-in-waterford-your-pictures-167280-Jul201

decies

munster_mafia wrote: »

Really enjoyed the last few days, and it's great that spraoi is only around the corner. Bolten st was a decent venue but wasn't full at all. Why didn't they release more tickets or was it just people not showing up? Only made it into the Waterboys, who I personally taught were very poor, and so did the majority around me. Heard similar about Bryan Ferry also. Woul have taught one big gig on the Saturday night with a higher calibre act would have been more suitable.

thought waterboys and Bryan Ferry were brilliant . Mike Scott got really into it and Bryan Ferry,s stage production was good entertainment

Daysha

I sailed in the 08 race when it went from Liverpool to Maloy in Norway, and while both places did a good job, what Waterford organised was on an entirely different level entirely.

Liverpool obviously had some facilities we can't compete with (the opening ceremony was in the Echo Arena), but there was little to nothing in the way of a proper festival atmosphere. The ships were in 3 different areas that required a 15 minute bus to get from one to the other, and there was only the odd gig here or there. Maloy did a good job given they're only a small town of a few thousand people, but there's very little you can organise in a place that size.

Liverpool attracted about 250,000 during their hosting while Maloy got about 50k, so for a place like ours to attract about 400,000 is one thing, but to do so with such brilliant organisation and only half the number of ships from the 08 race says it all. An absolutely brilliant weekend from start to finish and something we should be really proud of for years to come.

Daysha

There is one complaint that I have about the festival which I only just found out about tonight though. Apparently the Asgard's bell and wheel were on display somewhere in town, from the video package RTE ran it looks like Greyfriers. Why oh why didn't they publicise this?! I've read nearly every article published on the Asgard since she sank nearly 3 years and I didn't see a single thing about this. I even know of somebody who specifically went into the Tall Ships offices to ask if they had any intention of showcasing the recovered artifacts. All he got was a puzzled look before the City Council eventually got back to him and said they weren't in possession of them and won't be making any plans for it.

The weird thing is if they were indeed in Greyfriers (hard to tell from the images), that's a building that's run by the City Council themselves! Considering there were no Irish ships to lead the event this year, I always thought it'd be a nice symbolic gesture to use the Asgard's bell to signal the start of the race. But considering they were here all along and never told anyone about it is disappointing, I know for the fact there would've been a popular attraction not just for visitors but visiting crew members and the Tall Ships organisers themselves.

Hoffmans

why wasnt the dunbrody there?

Daysha

Hoffmans wrote: »

why wasnt the dunbrody there?

She doesn't sail much if at all anymore. Think they made the decision a few years ago to make it a permanent visitors attraction in New Ross, was costing too much to keep it seaworthy.

chelloveks

mike65 wrote: »

I wished I'd known about the MILF and Hotties boat.

Lmfao....where was that scow docked?

deisemum

Ray Darcy is full of praise for the Tall Ships and the organisation that was second to none.

Storm 10

Another gripe that I have is there was very little use made of the public sound system, I checked the programme and there was no mention of the Coastguard helicopter doing a flypast, I went to the Coastguard stand who told me the helicopter would display at 3.30pm on Saturday yet there was no announcement about this even when the helicopter arrived.

Daysha I saw the wheel and the bell from the Asgard it was on display in a small place on the quays (brought a tear to my eyes very sad) I forget the name of the place but there was loads of paintings there as well. I agree with you that this should have been announced as the sinking of Asgard was a great loss to the Country and would have attracted a lot of people to see it, as it was I stumbled upon it by accident.

Had a great weekend and the Tall Ships was fantastic well done Waterford.

jimbojazz

Storm 10 wrote: »

Another gripe that I have is there was very little use made of the public sound system, I checked the programme and there was no mention of the Coastguard helicopter doing a flypast, I went to the Coastguard stand who told me the helicopter would display at 3.30pm on Saturday yet there was no announcement about this even when the helicopter arrived.


I'd assume that the reason why they couldn't say what time or put it in print is bacause of the unknown factor with regard to the operation of this service i.e. it's an emergency vehicle and is on a 24hr watch. In my opinion the surprise element of it arriving added to the spectacle.

Finnbar01

Daysha wrote: »

She doesn't sail much if at all anymore. Think they made the decision a few years ago to make it a permanent visitors attraction in New Ross, was costing too much to keep it seaworthy.

Do you know why there was no helicopter rides this year?

Daysha

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Do you know why there was no helicopter rides this year?

There were, the stand was around the clock tower I think.

http://www.waterfordtallshipsrace.ie/the-festival/helicopter-rides/

Finnbar01

Daysha wrote: »

There were, the stand was around the clock tower I think.

http://www.waterfordtallshipsrace.ie/the-festival/helicopter-rides/

Cheers, last time they were leaving from Waterford cyrstal so flying over my house all the time.

CardBordWindow

Finnbar01 wrote: »

Do you know why there was no helicopter rides this year?

There was, the helicoptors were leaving from where the Foundry was down towards Gracedieu. They didn't really go down by the tall ships though, only went up around the new bridge.

mozattack

Very good overall - only complaint is why "gourmet" burgers were €7 and why a sausage in a blah was €4, €5 with onions.

Compared to Taste of Dublin it was a joke in that regard.

jimbojazz

mozattack wrote: »

Very good overall - only complaint is why "gourmet" burgers were €7 and why a sausage in a blah was €4, €5 with onions.

Compared to Taste of Dublin it was a joke in that regard.

There was also a lot of places that were good value for money like those 2 chinese places, the Dawn Meats place that had a beef dinner for €7.50 to name a few.

Eastenders on the quay had a take out offer for €5.50

The places that had the best value and best food had the biggest queues.

No matter where you go you'll always have a few that will try and overcharge a bit. In general I thought the pricing was reasonable in most places and was also good - great variety, food hot and well prepared.

I dont think anyone can say that the weekend was a rip off - even the Bars on the Quay were reasonable €4.50 for a pint not bad- how much do they charge at other festivals. I've been to the Galway Races and seen them charging €10 for a beef roll - without onions!!

There was nothing to stop anyone bringing their own food or drink either - you wouldn't get that at a lot of festivals.

I went into the 3 days - I had my 12 year old son with me. We had our lunch or dinner in there on Thursday and Saturday. We went to the Waterboys, Soul Reazon, Brendan Boywer.We also gave a good few hours at the fun fair on Saturday and went on board two of the ships. Had a few drinks, went to a few of the other events. In other words made the most of what was on offer.

We weren't bored for a single minute over the whole 3 days.

And for the whole 3 days I spent less than €100 - I couldn't believe it when I checked my wallet on Sunday morning - that's what I call value for money.

iamwhoiam

We went on Saturday from Dublin ,Parking was so easy and so organised .,We were in the red car park , got a shuttle within minutes despite long queues . The whole atmosphere was great .We got a lovely three course chinese lunch for €12.80
Well Done to all concerned we really enjoyed it

My one little complaint and not Waterfords fault at all but RTE was the Nationwide programme last night .I doubt many needed to see Nuala Carey and your man trying to sail a little boat , I tuned in to see the Tall Ships and would have loved more of them in full sail setting off , and we got 5 minutes of Nuala Carey .

libra02

iamwhoiam wrote: »

We went on Saturday from Dublin ,Parking was so easy and so organised .,We were in the red car park , got a shuttle within minutes despite long queues . The whole atmosphere was great .We got a lovely three course chinese lunch for €12.80
Well Done to all concerned we really enjoyed it

My one little complaint and not Waterfords fault at all but RTE was the Nationwide programme last night .I doubt many needed to see Nuala Carey and your man trying to sail a little boat , I tuned in to see the Tall Ships and would have loved more of them in full sail setting off , and we got 5 minutes of Nuala Carey .

Actually I though that little bit about Gerry and Nuala trying to sail so funny. He looked terrified but that talking from experience of not being a great swimmer and then going out trying to sail you seriously be apprenhsive.

RTE did a good job overall I think with the programme. Great that alot of the radio shows and weather etc were broadcast from the city.

Mind you talking to someone whow knows about these things Dublin is serioulsy worried and kind of getting defensive already about their hosting of the race end next August. With the city not being totally set up to host the event as easily as Waterford is I think a rethink is on the cards. A friend of mine said one the the papers up there is already running with stories of how they will attract more ships to the city than we could and more people and how they want to ensure it bigger than Waterford. :rolleyes:

Speak Now

So will it be back in another 6 years??

Dublin August 2012 for those who need a fix a fix sooner

jimbojazz

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

So will it be back in another 6 years??

Dublin August 2012 for those who need a fix a fix sooner

Nah, heard the weather wont be great for that!

Finnbar01

libra02 wrote: »

Actually I though that little bit about Gerry and Nuala trying to sail so funny. He looked terrified but that talking from experience of not being a great swimmer and then going out trying to sail you seriously be apprenhsive.

RTE did a good job overall I think with the programme. Great that alot of the radio shows and weather etc were broadcast from the city.

Mind you talking to someone whow knows about these things Dublin is serioulsy worried and kind of getting defensive already about their hosting of the race end next August. With the city not being totally set up to host the event as easily as Waterford is I think a rethink is on the cards. A friend of mine said one the the papers up there is already running with stories of how they will attract more ships to the city than we could and more people and how they want to ensure it bigger than Waterford. :rolleyes:

I hope it will be as successful in Dublin as it was in Waterford. They are two reasons for this.

Dublin is our capital city and needs to act and be treated as such.

If it is very successful in Dublin, that will be fantastic publicity for us when it comes around again in 2016.

libra02

Finnbar01 wrote: »

I hope it will be as successful in Dublin as it was in Waterford. They are two reasons for this.

Dublin is our capital city and needs to act and be treated as such.

If it is very successful in Dublin, that will be fantastic publicity for us when it comes around again in 2016.

Oh yeah I say Dublin will do a great job. Say atmosphere might not be as good in Waterford due to the nature of how spread out ships will have to be and the logistics of Dublin itself but am sure the 3 day events will be great.

My point was this first of all Waterford does not need to relate / associate itself to Dublin and how they host it. Dublin needs to be taking pointers from Waterford. We successfully bid and won it twice on our own merit and have proved that a smaller city can do just as well if not better than a capital city.

Secondly just because Dublin is out capital why should they get all the events and be treated better than any other city in the country. Waterford should be very proud of itself for what is has achieved and it deserves to be treated with respect.

Wateford has proved it is a gold grade port for these Tall Ships and Galway with holding the Volvo Ocean Race has also received praise.
What we need to promote is the fact that these cities are open and available to hold world class events and should be considered in bid processes.

libra02

Jerry Seinfeld wrote: »

So will it be back in another 6 years??

Dublin August 2012 for those who need a fix a fix sooner

Say it may be 2016-2018 as the bid process it a 4 year process and I get impression from the head of the organisation Knut ? cannot remember his last name, that he thinks 2016 may be a bit soon for us.

Now that could easily be he did not want to appear biased to Waterford hosting it and they need to get the feedback from crew's on what their impression was but I can see no reason why Waterford would not be successful in another bid.

Host cities have been successfully bid on up to 2014 so it all to play for after that.

yoyo83

what a great weekend it was! weather was superb couldnt ask for any better it was brillant! fair play to the people who organised it was a great weekend for the businesses

ToxicPaddy

I was there all weekend down manning one of the stalls, great atmosphere around the place.. everyone in great form and chatting away.

Hats off to the lads in the Civil Defence, all the Volunteers and the Gardai, not an ounce of trouble seen and everyone was chatting with the crowd etc.

Saw a few gardai getting plenty of attention from some young ladies, photos being taken etc. The girls had a fair few drinks in them but the lads too it all in good humour..

jayboi

Twas gerat oul craic alright but what I look forward to more than anything else is begrudging any other city that trys to host it

jimbojazz

jayboi wrote: »

Twas gerat oul craic alright but what I look forward to more than anything else is begrudging any other city that trys to host it

Considering we had 450,000 visitors here excluding the 50,000 locals, it goes without saying that those from other cities and towns made the weekend what it was so I'd have no bother in supporting any place that holds it.

jayboi

jimbojazz wrote: »

Considering we had 450,000 visitors here excluding the 50,000 locals, it goes without saying that those from other cities and towns made the weekend what it was so I'd have no bother in supporting any place that holds it.

Not even 5 minutes and I caught one hook, line and sinker.

jimbojazz

jayboi wrote: »

Not even 5 minutes and I caught one hook, line and sinker.

Touche:cool:

johnnykilo

Sorry to dig this thread up again, but this video is excellent. Well done to the folks at Aspect Photography (and no I don't have any affiliation with them :P)

http://aspectphotography.net/tall-ships-2011/

Hoffmans

johnnykilo wrote: »

Sorry to dig this thread up again, but this video is excellent. Well done to the folks at Aspect Photography (and no I don't have any affiliation with them :P)

http://aspectphotography.net/tall-ships-2011/

one of the coolest short vids iv seen in a while gas seeing the ships arrive at that speed...........

BostonB

Wow great link.

Daysha

It's a fantastic piece of work. After my first viewing I was thinking it would've been nice if it gave the time, but sure you can just look at the Clock Tower go in circles

KM88

johnnykilo wrote: »

Sorry to dig this thread up again, but this video is excellent. Well done to the folks at Aspect Photography (and no I don't have any affiliation with them :P)

Excellent.
Thanks for posting the link

Typhoon.

:eek:WOW:eek:

chelloveks

All I can say is wow...the hot air balloons and the tides raising and lowering the ships was really cool....on the ball men! Also great seeing the crowds arrive and leave

yoyo83

pretty amazing video i have to say! i miss the tall ships! was a brillant 3 days of it!