The organisers of the Fermanagh Seaplane Festival are proud to launch the Festival this week and announce the successful transformation of the former WWII Catalina Training Base in Killadeas, which will host the Festival on the 24th and 25th of September.

Organiser Thomas McCaffery of Lake and Air Events Said “This is an extremely exciting time for all parties involved. To have such a beautiful site with such significant links to Seaplanes/Flying Boats is great. We had a great experience at the Share Centre in 2009 and will always be extremely grateful for their support, but the festival needed to grow to make it a more attractive proposition to potential international visitors”.

The significantly historical location in Gublusk in Co Fermanagh, required extensive work and investment, enabling it to host (at present) 13 international aircraft at the festival, with most of it starting over six months ago. Kindly supported by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB), Waterways Ireland and media Sponsor UTV, the Festival promises to provide visitors with one of the most unique and beautiful festival sites in Europe.

Joy Bond, Events Manager, Northern Ireland tourist Board said “The Northern Ireland Tourist Board is delighted to support the Fermanagh Seaplane Festival this year as it’s a fantastic event which will have a great impact on local tourism. Such a spectacular range of entertainment displays aimed at people of all ages, as well as being value for money means that this event will be a great draw for tourists both within Northern Ireland and beyond. There is tremendous potential for the tourism industry in Northern Ireland to significantly contribute to economic growth and project a positive image of Northern Ireland to the rest of the world.  The Fermanagh Seaplane Festival 2011 will help turn this potential into a reality.”
The Catalinas have a long and outstanding history within Fermanagh and the seaplane festival will also celebrate the 70th anniversary of their arrival, with the return of a PBY Catalina to the shores of Lough Erne. The Catalinas, based at Castle Archdale- on loan from the US Naval Air Service- played a vital role in the victory of WWII, most notably the sinking of the Bismarck in 1941, which ended the battleship era.
 
The Festival has gained substantial interest from North America and Canada, and organisers believe that it could become legacy event for the region, especially with the vast scope to attract other large aircraft from across Europe and international visitors.

Martin Dennany, Director of Marketing & Communications at Waterways Ireland said “Waterways Ireland is delighted to be sponsoring the Seaplane Festival again after such a successful inaugural event during 2009. The event provides a distinctive showcase for the stunning Fermanagh Lakelands and will attract a vast amount of interest both internationally and locally. Waterways Ireland is responsible for promoting the inland navigable waterways of Ireland, principally for recreational purposes, so we are very much looking forward to being part of an event that provides visitors with the opportunity to enjoy a whole new perspective on this, whilst at the same time celebrating the history and heritage of these extraordinary aircraft and their strong association with the Lakelands of Fermanagh”.
 
The actual site of the festival is located beside Enniskillen Yacht Club and will also include key attractions, such as Live Music, Continental Food & Craft Market, Kids entertainment, Model Seaplanes displays, Historical & Educational Displays etc
 
Thomas McCaffery Continued “The Fermanagh Seaplane Festival is also about celebrating Fermanagh and its unique water setting, I think we all need to sometimes really remind ourselves how good we have it here in terms of beauty, and through the Seaplane Festival we want to share that locally, nationally and internationally. So I am encouraging everyone to get on board and support it, ultimately so that we can turn it into a regular festival, not only benefiting the regional tourism, but  one that actually makes an economic impact in the region, already we have over ten local companies that are non-tourism based benefiting from the event. Also at this point I would like to thank the site owners and our supporters, we are extremely proud of their own vision and foresight in seeing the vast potential this festival provides. ”
 
Visitors are advised that there shall be no parking at the site and people can use the short park and ride options set up. Keep up-to-date and log onto the festival website www.fermanaghseaplanefestival.com  - mobile site m.fermanaghseaplanefestival.com or one of their various social media platforms.

ENDS
Notes to Editor

•    Image 1: From Back Left: Steve Powell of Lakeland Seaplane Tours, Martin Denanny from Waterways Ireland. Middle, Paul Hutchinson of UTV, Joy Bond From NITB Events & Tanya Cathcart, Fermanagh Tourism. Front From Ted Jones, former WWII Catalina Pilot & Alan Cathcart from Enniskillen Airport.

•    Facebook Link: Fermanagh Seaplane-Festival
•    Twitter: @Seaplanes2011
•    Website: www.fermanaghseaplanefestival.com

•    Media Contact: Corker Communications – Thomas McCaffery seaplanes@corkercommunications.co.uk - 00447742329123

•    Festival Organiser – Lake and Air Events Ltd – info@lakeandairevents.com

•    Fermanagh Seaplane Festival Office - 0044 7704131949 – Email: familyfun@fermanaghseaplanefestival.com

•    The Northern Ireland Tourist Board is the highest public sector funder, contributing £35K towards the Fermanagh Seaplane Festival 2011 to support the event’s marketing and venue and event production costs.

•    Waterways Ireland is one of the six North/South Implementation Bodies established under the British Irish Agreement in 1999. Waterways Ireland has responsibility for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of inland navigable waterways principally for recreational purposes. The waterways under the remit of the body are the Barrow Navigation, the Erne System, the Grand Canal, the Lower Bann, the Royal, the Shannon-Erne Waterway and the Shannon Navigation. The headquarters for Waterways Ireland is in Enniskillen, and regional offices are located in Carrick-on-Shannon, Dublin and Scarriff.

•    The ‘Fermanagh Seaplane Festival’, one of the most unique festivals in Europe is back. Aircraft from places such as Norway, Holland, France and closer to home shall travel to the area to promote the beauty of the Lakeland’s to an international audience.

•    The first festival took place in 2009 and was a massive success, so the organisers with kind support from NITB and Waterways Ireland have set about making the 2011 event bigger and better, providing visitors with a superb two and a half days that they won’t forget.