Co Tyrone village to host Georgian-themed festival

The event, pencilled in for October 1, will be officially opened by The Earl of Caledon KCVO and Terence Brannigan, Tourism NI chairman, and will feature a host of Georgian-themed entertainment.

Visitors can experience the food and drink courtyard, Georgian-themed children’s activities, historical walking tours, an old courtroom re-enactment, side saddle demonstrations, blacksmith demonstrations, music, traditional Irish dancers and much more.

The business community, residents and the Caledon Regeneration Partnership are pulling together to organise the full-day festival which is expected to attract people from far and wide.

Festival committee member Sandra Mortimer said the festival’s aim is to help the village celebrate its natural and built heritage and is being tied in with the Year of Food and Drink initiative being run by Tourism NI.

She said: “Caledon is a village with a strong Georgian influence in its architecture. The village is home to the Earl of Caledon. It’s steeped in history, is a beautiful place to live and work and we are surrounded by fantastic food and drink producers, crafters and creative people . We feel it is appropriate to combine all of these elements to create our very own festival.”

The schedule of events will also include patchwork and lace workshops, storytelling in the old Beam Engine, puppet shows, games, and activities for children which will be scripted to a Georgian theme.

There will also be buskers on the village Main Street, local traders will be dressing up in Georgian wear and there will be a penalty kick challenge.