Town’s marine organisations come together to make a splash with Gosport Marine Festival

Gosport Marine Festival 2015 will take place on Saturday 13 June 10am to 6pm at Gosport’s Waterfront Millennium Promenade, Timespace, Trinity Green and Haslar Marina.

It is a free community event, showcasing the wealth of on-water opportunities available on the Gosport peninsula and allowing people of all ages to have a go at a whole host of these activities.

Try sailing & watersports activities Float Show in Haslar Marina Entertainment in Timespace Food Feastival on Haslar Pier Onshore showcase in Trinity Green Nautical Art Fair in Holy Trinity Church Little Ship Mates Art corner National Championship Model Yacht Race

Following the success of the GoWaterSport Festival in 2013 when more than 200 people tried out a water sport for the first time, 1,000 places will be available at Gosport Marine Festival 2015.

Tony Salmon, Gosport Sea Cadets Commanding Officer, said, “This is going to be a fantastic event to give young people access to the water sports available in the town. We’ll have dinghies, kayaks and rowing boats, plus a couple of bigger boats from the Rona Sailing Trust and Ocean Youth Trust South for people to have a go on. You never know, we might find a future Olympic gold medallist or round the world sailor.”

Gosport Marine Festival is organised by Gosport Marine Scene CIC, a not for profit organisation which aims to promote Gosport as a centre of marine excellence in the UK.

By bringing together local clubs, industry experts and schools and colleges, as well as providing a free access to on water activities, Gosport Marine Festival will showcase career opportunities for young people to enter the marine industry and show how easy it is to participate in the water sports on a regular basis.

Councillor John Beavis MBE is leading the organising committee. He said, “Gosport is on its way to being a world leading hub for the marine industry and the young people of the borough are essential to that development. There are exciting career, sport and leisure opportunities springing up around the 24 miles of coastline on the Gosport peninsula and by putting the young people at the heart of this event we hope to be able to encourage them to help make Gosport a thriving town we can all be proud of.”

Gosport Marine Festival 2015 will also see the inaugural running of the Gosport Peninsula Charity Pursuit – a fun chase around the Solent for yachts of 26 feet or more to raise money for local charities. It won’t necessarily be the fastest crew on the water who will lift the trophy: points will be awarded in a number of categories, including for the amount of funds the team raises for their chosen good cause.

Source: Gosport Marine Scene website