River to Lough Festival

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River to Lough Festival

The River to Lough Festival will take place on Saturday 28th Sept 2019. See menu tab for timetable & map. Admission: adults £2, children u16 go free.

River to Lough Festival is a hugely popular, award winning event, showcasing the unique cultural heritage of Lough Neagh & Its Waterways, celebrating the ancient fishing tradition associated with the area. River to Lough Festival has gained a reputation as one of Northern Ireland's most unique Food Festivals. The festival which celebrates the world renowned Lough Neagh Pollan and other fish includ

ing Lough Neagh Eel. You will start your visit at Lough Neagh Fishermen's Co-operative where you will collect your tickets to gain entry to the co-op and the range of activities happening at the other venues. This year’s festival programme will introduce visitors to the new Lough Neagh Fisheries Visitor Centre at the Co-op. There will be exhibitions with fishermen, story-telling, net demonstrations, heritage boats and lots of activities and entertainment through-out the day for the family. Paula McIntyre will perform cookery demos and will compere for local chefs, showing their skills at handling fish from the lough and a wide range of other local ingredients. You'll find these delicious recipes available to buy at the two local hotels, where the demos are scheduled throughout the day, The Elk Complex and O'Neill Arms Hotel. And don't forget to collect your free taster sample of battered pollan at Fried Fish Warehouse. Visitors will have a chance to buy a range of local artisan foods in the food market. The craft market will be the ideal opportunity to shop for unique hand crafted gifts. Craft demonstrations connected to fishing and the local region will be on show at The Lock Keepers Cottage, as well as bakery demonstrations and a chance for a cuppa and a try of the delicious baked goods. Just outside the Cottage at Jetty 1 on Toome Canal, canoe and paddle boat taster sessions (limited spaces) and further up the canal take a boat trip up the canal and onto Lough Neagh (limited spaces). This really is the ultimate Food Festival!

11/06/2022

Enjoy the ‘TYRONE MAKERS’ Open Day this Sunday - 12th June 2022

Join in celebrating the skills & crafts of our local Artisan Makers

Open for tours are: the bog museum, the industrial & weavers museum & Tyrone Crafted Glass.

These fascinating experiences are all in the Coalisland area, which means you can visit all of them on the one day!

⏰ There will be tours every hour from 10am with the last tour at 3pm.

BOG MUSEUM, WEAVING FACTORY & INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM

Explore the good old days & visit the Bog Museum with a treasure house of exhibits of old artifacts which reveal much about the rich & varied history of Ireland before & after the ice age. Followed by a 20 minute video on the big screen showing a “Day in the Bog”.

Then step back in time & visit the old weaving factory & industrial museum to experience the days of old when men & women worked long hours over the large looms which still stand as they were left all those years ago.

This leg of the tour starts at Island Turf Craft shop where
🎟Tickets £3 per person can be purchased at the door

📍Island Turf Craft / Bog Museum: Enterprise Centre, 51 Dungannon Rd, Coalisland, Dungannon BT71 4HP

TYRONE CRAFTED GLASS

Just a short stroll from The Bog Museum & Weaving Factory is Tyrone Crafted Glass, where you can learn about the legacy of the famous Tyrone Crystal factory which closed in 2010. Former staff from the factory have now opened their own artisan craft studio where they produce high quality products, including glasses, tankards, platters, trophies & even chandeliers. Visitors can enjoy an introductory talk on the history of glass making & an exciting hands-on experience at the popular ‘cut & keep’ workshops - have a go at marking & cutting your very own glass, which you can take home as a souvenir!

⏰Tours commence every hour on the hour from 10am, with the last tour at 3pm

🎟Tickets are £15 per person

📍Tyrone Crafted Glass is located nearby in unit 53

01/06/2022

Something for the weekend?

Experience Life On the Lough Neagh Shoreline & enjoy artisan food, drink & live music entertainment on a jam packed tour this Sunday - 5 June 2022

🎟 Stop 1 Bellaghy - Bakehouse NI with Annie’s Delights: Guests enjoy a scone & lemon drizzle cake making demo by Bronagh in her custom kitchen while tasting her scones accompanied by Annie’s jams. Tea & coffee will be served.

🎟 Stop 2 Toome - Lock Keeper’s Eel Supper: Guests enjoy a traditional eel supper which includes five cuts of eel & soda bread prepared by the family of a fourth-generation eel fisherman with tea/coffee in the unique surroundings of the Lock Keeper’s Cottage which overlooks Toome Canal – famous for scenes from Game of Thrones.

🎟 Stop 3: The Finale - visit The Crosskeys Inn & be treated some toe tapping traditional music as well a Crosskeys whiskey tasting with the owner of Ireland’s oldest thatched pub, Vincent Hurl. The whiskey will be accompanied by Gold & Browne’s gluten free gourmet brownies which are handmade by a local baker.

🚍Departing Belfast 10am
Antrim 10.25am
Toome 10.40am

Returning Toome 3.15pm
Antrim 3.35pm
Belfast 4pm

🎟 Ticket Price £80 per person
Included:
✅ Private transportation
✅ Lunch
✅ Alcoholic Beverages (for customers over 18)

This tour is also available for group bookings
📞028 7941 7941 (office hours)
📧 [email protected]
or book now
📲 https://www.viator.com/tours/Belfast/Food-and-Drink-Tour-Life-On-the-Shoreline-Lough-Neagh/d738-350171P1

13/05/2022

We are delighted to announce that Grans Cafe in Toome will open on the day of the Lough Neagh Artisan Market to offer a superb Eel Supper. It doesn't get more authentic than this because the family who own the cafe have fished the Lough for several generations, so they know how to cook an eel
The Eel Supper at Grans is priced at £10.00 per person and must be booked in advance by phoning the café on 028 7965 0082
We recommend booking early as demand is usually high.
The Lough Neagh Artisans Market will take place at the Lock Keeper’s Cottage, Toome, on Sunday 22 May from 1.00pm to 5.00pm. The market will showcase local produce, arts and crafts from the shoreline of Lough Neagh and right across Northern Ireland.
The market will include live music, cookery demonstrations, product sampling, eel supper, and boat trips - a delicious and fabulous day out for foodies and families!
Admission: Free to attend

20/04/2022

Calling all NI Food, Drink & Craft Artisans

Lough Neagh Artisan Market
Sunday 22nd May, 1pm - 5pm
The Lock Keepers Cottage, Toome

We are now accepting applications for Artisans of food, drink & craft to trade at our inaugural Lough Neagh Artisans Market. Full details and application can be found at the link below. Please share ☺️

https://loughneaghartisans.com/lough-neagh-artisan-market/

Lough Neagh Artisan Market Sunday 22nd May, 1pm – 5pm The Lock Keepers Cottage, Toome Background Lough Neagh Artisans was formed in 2019 and operates as a collective of like-minded creatives who live within 10 miles of Lough Neagh. The group collaborates and inspires people with their foods, craft...

09/08/2021

We were saddened to hear of the death of Eamon Moore, he was the face of our River to Lough festival campaign and a true gentleman. We had the pleasure of interviewing him a few years ago to share his story about the life of a Lough Neagh Fisherman. RIP

https://www.funeraltimes.com/eamonmoore715330228

27/03/2021

What a great prize!

💥Competition Time 💥

To be in with a chance of winning a £100 Lough Neagh Tour gift voucher, all you have to do is 'Like' the Lough Neagh Tours page and tell us who you would love to explore Lough Neagh with in the competition post!

It's as simple as that!

Ts & Cs here >> https://marketing.loughneaghtours.com/facebook-competition

24/01/2021

What a fantastic recipe in The Irish Times from JP McMahon

JP McMahon: Those that believe tempura has no place in Irish food will be surprised

15/05/2020

Please subscribe to the Lough Neagh Tours YouTube channel - support our local tourism businesses

We've just uploaded a beautiful video of Long Meadow Cider's apple blossom tour last year. It would be great if you could subscribe to our YouTube channel - then you'd get a notification each time we release a new video :-)

Please share

Subscribe at this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCof8bC0_voR2myR6cGgnA6g/

13/05/2020

Eel supper anyone?

Address

4 Bannside, Toomebridge
Antrim
BT413SB

Telephone

+442879650618

Website

http://www.rivertolough.co.uk/

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Our Story

The River to Lough Festival has gained a reputation as one of Northern Ireland’s most unique food festivals. The popular, award winning event, which celebrates the unique cultural heritage of Lough Neagh and its waterways, focuses on the generations-old fishing traditions associated with the area.

This year’s festival programme centers on Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative on Saturday 28th September. The new Lough Neagh Fisheries Visitor Centre will be open for business and the factory will be home to an array of activities associated with fishing on Lough Neagh, with particular emphasis on pollan.

Lough Neagh Pollan recently achieved Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, the official recognition awarded by the EU to top-flight foods and drinks. This is the first PDO for Northern Ireland and the first for a fin fish in the UK & Ireland.

You can follow the pollan life cycle trail, find out what they eat, where they breed and what makes them so special. You will meet the fishermen and see their traditional, sustainable methods for fishing for pollan and demonstrations on the preparation and processing of pollan. Chat with the AFBI scientists who will be on hand to show you many fascinating creatures from the lough, including live specimens in aquaria.