Walking festival dedicated to memory of John Quinn
THE 51st Castlebar International Four Days Walks, which take place from Thursday to Sunday next, June 28 to July 1, are being dedicated to the memory of John Quinn, Sarnaught, Castlebar, Strasbourg, France, and Waterford.
John (59) died tragically on May 12 last in a hiking accident in the Vosges Mountains near Strasbourg, the city where he had worked and lived for the past number of years.
The deceased led the cross-country rambles of the Castlebar walks for the past number of years and his absence will be sorely felt over the coming days by the hundreds of international and local walkers who held him in such high regard.
Said Elaine Devereaux, festival director: "We are still getting over the shock news we received a number of weeks ago and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
"We decided to dedicate this year's festival to his memory and a candle will be lit at our headquarters from this evening (Wednesday) to the close of the festival of Sunday.
"John was such a warm and wonderful presence within our organisation and we are going to miss him so much. But he will be very much in our thoughts and in our hearts throughout the festival.
"Our preparations have been overshadowed by his tragic loss. But we know the best tribute to him is for the walks to proceed like normal and that we all wear a smile on our faces. That's what John would have wanted. God rest his gentle soul."
There are a number of interesting new features this year, most notably the staging of a Brass Band Festival in the town on Saturday to help enhance the atmosphere for the walkers visiting Castlebar from 16 different countries, including Taiwan, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Holland.
A new route is also being introduced to the ramblers on Friday and it features one of Achill Island's most glorious landscapes.
Three different walks are held each day, a 20k road walk, a 10k road walk and the 30k ramble, the latter of which is already booked out.
The road walks start from the festival HQ at the TF Royal Hotel at 8.30 a.m. on each of the four mornings. The buses to the ramble routes on Thursday (Keenagh), Friday (Achill) and Saturday (Mulranny) leave at 8.45 a.m. sharp and all ramblers participate in the 20k road walk on the Sunday.
All walkers are advised to attend the briefing session at the TF Royal Hotel at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
PARADE OF NATIONS
The Parade of International Flags, which was reintroduced last year, takes place on Saturday after 7 p.m. Mass at the Church of the Holy Rosary, Castlebar, and, with the additional brass bands, it promises to be something really special.
It is organised by the newly-appointed festival president, Mick Baynes.
The route is Chapel Street, Tucker Street, Linenhall Street, Main Street, Ellison Street, Mountain View and finishing at the festival HQ where the Mayo Youth Orchestra will entertain the turnout in the lounge of the TF Royal Hotel.
The event concludes on Sunday night with the traditional Blister Ball.