Lisburn News

Local community festival a big hit

Saints Youth Club pictured at the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313-112A0

Beth Murtagh taking part in the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313-114A0

Lauren Walsh, Caitlin Walsh and Hugh Kennedy strike a pose during the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313.115A0

Evan Stanley and Carson Opie getting ready for the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313-113A0

LOCAL Colin residents enjoyed over a week of fun and family friendly events when the Colin Summer Festival kicked off.

The community festival featured events for all including a carnival parade, family fun days, art exhibitions, health fairs, sporting activities including a fun run/walk, a youth treasure hunt and much more, all organised by the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership (CNP).

The Colin Festival Parade, one of the main events of the festival, saw local families get dressed up before the parade made its way to CNPs grounds for a Family Fun Day which featured bouncy castles, a climbing wall, face painting, games, live music and free entertainment.

At the Fun Day the Colin's Got Talent Competition got under way with a number of local residents performing in front of a live audience at Cloona House. Darragh Gallagher won over the crowd with an impressive performance of a song by Meatloaf which saw them taking the award for 1st Place. 2nd place was Nathan Doherty who sang Don't Stop Believing'. The award for 3rd place went to Declan Gallagher who treated the crowd to some dancing.

The Colin Fun Run also took place during the Festival. The popular Fun Run saw runners and walkers pounding the streets of Colin to raise money for NI Children's Hospice. Over 100 people participated and over £340 was raised for the charity. The run saw trophies, sponsored by Lisburn City Council, awarded to winners and all other participants received medals.

This year, CNP decided to include two route lengths to cater to people of all ages and abilities. For the longer 5k route the award for 1st place Male was won by Gerard McNamara who ran the race in an impressive 20 minutes and 54 seconds. Bliadhan Glass came in 2nd place running the race in 21 minutes, 12 seconds. In the 1st place Female category Eileen Jack, who was on holiday from Boston, ran the race in just under 30 minutes. Angelene Laverty came in 2nd place completing the race in 33 minutes and four seconds. For the Juniors heat, 1st place went to Calvin McCurry and 2nd place was won by Aaoron Lynch.

As well as providing fun and entertainment, this year's festival also aimed to cater to the health and wellbeing of local residents with a Health Fair being held in a local shopping centre. Almost 100 health tests were carried out on members of the public to measure diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol and fitness.

For the first time during Festival Week, CNP organised a Youth Treasure Hunt in the local Forest Park. Teams found themselves hunting out clues and challenges dotted around the woodland. The winning team, Safer Neighbourhoods Youth, was awarded a trophy for completing all the tasks and making it back to base first.

John Paul Russell, Arts and Cultural Worker at CNP, commented on the success of this year's festival: "This is the 6th year of the Colin Festival and once again we were impressed at the level of involvement from the community. The Festival Parade was one of the highlights of the festival and we had children, parents, residents and groups dressing up and getting into the festival spirit. Festival week Is massively important for the area of Colin; its something that everyone looks forward to and it really brings the community together. I would like to thank everyone who got involved and helped make it a great community celebration."

For info on future events in Colin check out Colin Neighbourhood Partnership's website www.newcolin.com or phone 9062 3813.

Corey Creen and Cliodhna Creen at the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313.111A0

Rebecca O'Neill, Jade Johnston and Rachel O'Neill smile for the Star at the Colin Neighbourhood Partnership Family Fun Day and Carnival Parade. US3313.116A0

Ulster Star
24/08/2012