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Major maritime festivals draw in bank holiday crowds

The Turkington family from Filemiletown enjoying the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival which returned this weekend
The Turkington family from Filemiletown enjoying the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival which returned this weekend The Turkington family from Filemiletown enjoying the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival which returned this weekend

IT was 'anchors aweigh' as three major festivals drew huge crowds to the shores of Belfast lough and along the Co Antrim coast over the bank holiday weekend.

In Belfast thousands of people turned out to see impressive sailing ships at the Titanic Maritime Festival.

Visitors were also able to get a glimpse of First World War battleship HMS Caroline, ahead of its official public opening next month, and sample food at a continental market on Queen’s Quay.

There were opportunities to climb onboard some of the ships while other festival highlights included the Titanic pop-up picnic, the soccer village, the dock market at the Arc and a climbing wall.

The event, organised by Belfast City Council, is running until today in the Titanic Quarter.

In Ballycastle meanwhile the opening weekend of the Rathlin Sound festival saw huge crowds entertained by a chowder cook off and a concert by country music star Lisa McHugh.

Thousands basked in the May sunshine and watched the impressive antics of 'JetMan', who used the power of water to propel himself several feet in the air.

The festival runs until June 5.

The weekend saw Portrush celebrate the 35th anniversary of its annual raft race.

Dozens of teams pitted their rafting skills against the Atlantic as part of the RNLI's fundraising event.