Lots of towns have festival weeks during the summer months, but I don’t know of anywhere that can put on a week long event like Portstewart, Co.Londonderry. The Red Sails Festival is named after the songwriter Jimmy Kennedy’s classic ‘Red Sails in the Sunset’ which he wrote after seeing a yacht sailing across Portstewart Bay, during one of those spectacular North Coast sunsets.

Thousands must flock to the seaside town for these events, many of which take place outside, around the town, and particularly at the Band Stand – right by the sea. Here’s a section of the crowd at this popular venue, undeterred by the rather inclement weather…

The Red Sails Festival takes place in July every year, around the third week of the month, is entirely organised and run by a team of enthusiastic volunteers, who put on a week of great entertainment for adults and children, with concerts, readings, exhibitions, comedy, street theatre, and much more, culminating in a fantastic Saturday night fireworks show, over the (hopefully) calm waters of the bay. The streets, the coffee shops, cafes and restaurants, (and I’m sure the bars!) are packed with people, – staying open late, and enjoying the extra trade. And of course, the ice-cream shops, novelty and sweet-shops are trading late too, making the sea-front a colourful place to walk along in the evening. For this image, I couldn’t ignore the splash of colour!

Like every year from 2016 Janette and I went to Portstewart for the week, and like every other year, a Fujifilm camera went too. This year the Fujifilm X-T5, set to record in both Acros film simulation and RAW. But since I’m in a black and white mood at the present time, most of my images remained in Acros. We attended three of the musical events, on Wednesday evening, the amazing Willie Brennan, with his Ulster Scots orchestra and friends, on Thursday, the String Ninjas, a guitar and fiddle duo from Belfast, and finally on Friday night, a classic jazz and big-band night with the Rhythm Rascals, – a 14 strong combination of wind, guitars, keyboard and drums, playing everything from Glen Millar to Duke Ellington.

Here’s just a few of the images to whet your appetite for next year:-

Wille Drennan on the Lambeg Drums, – with some Irish and Scottish Dancers!

The String Ninjas

The Rhythm Rascals

There’s always great audience participation, and some couldn’t resist the urge to get up from their seats and get their feet moving on the sandy floor of the pavement…

Portstewart is rated as the best place to live in Northern Ireland, – but it’s a great place to visit too, and no better time to visit than the third week in July, for the Red Sails Festival.