JULY 2021
A large-scale Seaside Revival Vintage Festival on Bangor Seafront just isn’t possible again this year – so we’re bringing you a month of at-home, online and smaller outdoor events instead. The Seaside Revival summer programme will commemorate the history and heritage of Bangor-by-the-Sea, and provide lots of opportunities for people to celebrate safely together and apart.
Seaside Revival 2021 Programme
Summer Swim Challenge
Throughout June/July/August
Grab your swimwear of choice, gather your mates and family members – and get into the water this summer.
Street Art
Sat 3rd & Sun 4th July | Various locations
Painting the town seaside-style with large scale murals and street art.
Seaside Revival At Home
Sat 3rd July | All day
Get your vintage glad rags on, dust down your deck chairs, shake your cocktails – and join our Seaside Revival at Home celebrations.
Sea Bathing Heritage Talk
Wed 7th July | 7:30pm – 8pm | Delivered online via Zoom
A history of Bangor’s most beautiful bathing spots, from Skippingstone Beach to Ballyholme Bay.
Pickie to Pier Swim
Sat 10th July | 10am | Skippingstone Beach – Eisenhower Pier
The legendary Pickie to Pier Swim returns this year, in partnership with Ballyholme Yacht Club. Registration is now closed as the 200 available places were snapped up very quickly – but we would love you to come along and cheer the swimmers on!
Conversation Caravan
Fri 16th July | 7pm
The Conversation Caravan makes its final outing, with remotely recorded chat about growing up in Bangor from some of the Open House team.
Make a Floral Crown
Sat 17th July | 11am | Online Workshop
Make your own stunning floral crown at this online workshop with Flowers by Mee
The Big Swing Dance Class
Sun 18th July | 2pm – 3pm | Ward Park Bandstand
Are you dancing? Because we’re asking! If you’ve missed dancing this past year and a bit, this is your chance to let loose and learn some new Swing steps in the process.
Macramé Deckchair Workshop
Fri 23rd & Fri 30th July | 6.30pm – 9.30pm | Project 24
A vintage seaside holiday just isn’t a vintage seaside holiday without a vintage deckchair!
Heritage Hunt
Sun 1st Aug – 30th Sep
Take a leisurely dander from Ballyholme to Pickie, stopping off at ten points of historical interest along the way.
Sea Glass Tiles Workshop
Sat 24th July | 2pm | Kingsland Beach
The rocky beach opposite the Jamaica Inn is a sea glass treasure trove. Explore the beach, select some coastal treasures, and make your mosaic tile.
Bring a blanket and a picnic.
Vintage Car Boot Sale
Sun 25th July | 11-3pm | Holborn Carpark
If, like us, you love all things retro, we want to hear from you. We want traders who encapsulate our vintage vibe and who will help to transport visitors back in time.
Register as a trader from the link below.
Tenx9
Thurs 29th July | 7.30pm | Delivered online via Zoom
Nine people tell a true seaside story lasting ten minutes. Local storytellers include Colin Bateman & Amy Louise Wyatt
Classic Cinema – Some Like It Hot
Fri 30th July | 7pm – 9pm | Ward Park (next to the bandstand)
A free screening of the classic film, Some Like It Hot. Feel free to bring a picnic and your own seats or rugs.
Classic Car Show
Sat 31st July | 11am – 3pm | Queen’s Parade Car Park, Bangor Seafront
We are looking for cars, motorbikes, scooters, vans and even buses. There’ll be prizes and trophies for the five categories – Best Original Car, Best Classic Car, Best Classic Bike, Best Classic Van & Best Modified Classic.
Pre-registration is ESSENTIAL – use the button below to register.
Seaside Rocks
Sat 31st July | 2pm – 4pm | Project 24
Discover the joy of this simple art activism – paint a few rocks seaside-style, then prepare them for hiding or giving as gifts.
Abstracting Bangor
Sat 31 July | 10am | Boom! Studios
Inspired by the seaside architecture and coastal vistas, catch some inspiration on a morning “en plien air” session, followed by an afternoon abstract art workshop using the images created in the morning.
Revival Picnic
Sun 1 August | 2-5pm | Ward Park
with The Sabrejets & The Swingtime Starlets
Classic full throttle restless rockabilly, plus soda pop shop, swing and wartime harmonies – as part of our Seaside Revival Vintage Festival.
Click below to see the full programme of Sundays
Pickie Voices
Pickie Voices, recorded in 2019 by Rachel McCarthy, is a wonderful trip down memory lane. With some lovely stories of Pickie Pool along with some beautiful photographs
SERC Poster Design
We are delighted that this year’s students on the Creative Media course at SERC chose Seaside Revival for their advertising project. Check out their brilliant finished posters.
SEASIDE REVIVAL
2020 FESTIVAL
2019 FESTIVAL
2018 FESTIVAL
HISTORY BOARDS
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Why Are We Doing It?
In recent decades local people have become increasingly disconnected from the town’s heritage. With very little cultural infrastructure and a failed retail sector, Bangor has suffered a downward social and economic spiral symptomatic of many British and Irish seaside towns.
Older people in Bangor look back with fondness to its heyday, but with a sense of regret for all that has been lost, while many of the younger generation who know little of the town’s past condemn it as a boring place to live. But we believe that Bangor has so much to offer everyone who lives here.
Join in the conversation on our Facebook Page
Our Aims
Through this new vintage festival we want to revive positive memories and use them to create new ones. We hope to reposition Bangor as a modern seaside town, drawing on its unique assets of the seafront, a thriving community of artists and creatives, Victorian architecture, its closeness to Belfast – and most importantly, an appetite among residents for regeneration.
We believe that if local people can connect with their past, they will start talking the town up – a key part of the next chapter.
Funders
Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund Great Place Scheme, Seaside Revival aims to re-position Bangor as a modern seaside town – the Brighton of Northern Ireland – with a distinctive cultural offer. Additional support is provided by Ards & North Down Borough Council.
Partners
Led by Open House Festival, the Project brings together six organisations representing different businesses and community interests in the town: Bangor Chamber of Commerce, North Down Community Network, North Down Development Corporation, Boom! Studios, and Main Street My Street.
Translink have played a historic role in linking Bangor to the rest of Northern Ireland and we’re proud to have their support for another Seaside Revival.
