Children create a hullabaloo at fifth festival of fun

WATERFORD took on a nautical look over the weekend as thousands of people turned out for the Hullabaloo Children’s Festival, in its fifth year.

Children enjoyed the fun at this year’s event, which heralded the Tall Ships Race, due to start soon.

The events included a trolley and go-kart race, a fancy dress parade, big band entertainment, a children’s talent show, puppets, a film programme, workshops, dance, and arts and crafts.

Children met Hans Christian Andersen characters as part of the bicentenary festivities organised to mark the anniversary of his birth.

Unfortunately, the weather took its toll on one of the county’s best-known horse shows, forcing the organisers to postpone yesterday’s event because of ground conditions.

The ninth Leap Annual Horse and Pony Show, in Co Cork, was postponed because the organisers said the field was a washout and it wouldn’t have been safe to stage the event.

One of the organisers, Martin O’Sullivan, said that while it was disappointing, the event would still be staged this year. “We will run it for definite, it’s just that we will have to get a new date,” he said. He added that the committee would meet shortly and announce a date. The weather proved no problem for rugby fans and players alike who enjoyed the annual Kinsale Sevens.

A record 12,000 people flocked to the harbour town for the tournament, leaving local businesspeople smiling at till receipts. The 17th year of the festival saw 84 teams competing from a number of countries.

Tournament director Tomás O’Brien described it as a great weekend. “We’re very happy, everything went well,” he said.