Dalkey all set for Lobster Festival

THE Dalkey Lobster Festival is returning to the Southside next week.

From Friday, August 26 to Sunday 28, the beautiful heritage town of Dalkey will host a unique fusion of incredible local seafood and the best of current global jazz musicians.

This year’s festival will be bigger and better than ever. Following on from the success of previous years, Dalkey expects to welcome an additional 40,000 visitors across the weekend to the scenic coastal village that plays a perfect host to this lively and much loved festival.

Festival-goers can enjoy great music with local and international artists including Paddy Sherlock, MacFleetwood, Jamie Duff and The Cuban All Stars to name but a few.

The fabulous restaurants, pubs and cafés of Dalkey will be serving up some of the best Irish seafood in this unique relaxed setting while local businesses will be carrying out live interactive cooking demos, using only the finest locally sourced lobster and crab.

The streets of Dalkey Village will be bustling with street performers, face painters, balloon artists and much more.

A selection of retailers will also have special offers available across the three days. There will be a dedicated Kids Zone with plenty to entertain the younger ones including bouncing castles, giant slides, puppet shows, magic shows, crazy golf and more.

This year’s sponsors are 98FM, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and Failte Ireland. The festival’s chosen charity partner for 2016 is the Down Syndrome Centre – Ireland’s only services-led centre for children with Down Syndrome and their families.

Event organiser, David Coulson of The Tramyard Dalkey, said: “We are delighted to welcome visitors to Dalkey for this now renowned festival. This village has a strong heritage in spectacular seafood and we just love to share that with our visitors. If you love good music and hearty helpings of lobster and crab sound like a delicious idea, then Dalkey Lobster Fest is for you.

“With DARTs, buses and plenty of parking, a trip to Dalkey across this fantastic weekend will be well worth it. We’d like to thank each of our sponsors for making this festival possible and we hope people will come out in force and help raise vital funds for the Down Syndrome Centre.”