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RBK

The Broadisland Gathering - Ballycarry's Biggest Day of the Year!
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>The Broadisland Gathering was established in 1993 by Ballycarry
>Community Association in County Antrim and is the major event on the
>village's community calendar. It is an Ulster-Scots festival which
>includes pageantry, children's entertainments, the Auld Ballycarry Fair
>and many other aspects.
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>The annual Broadisland Gathering in Ballycarry is the most prominent and
>successful Ulster-Scots Gathering on the east coast of Ulster.
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>This year it takes place on Saturday, September 4th and will follow a
>military theme, highlighting the 60th anniversary of D Day in 1944.
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>One of those who helped plan the D Day landings was Ballycarry general
>Sir James Stuart Steele, who served with the Royal Ulster Rifles, and
>the event will also mark the 110th anniversary of his birth.
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>The chosen townland for this year's new banner is Bentra, which had a
>First World War airship base, then operated by the Royal Navy prior to
>the formation of the Royal Air Force.
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>The skirl of the pipes will resound across the local area, with a new
>townland banner to be unfurled for the townland of Bentra, near
>Whitehead, while Scottish dancing, a Junior Highland Games, vintage
>vehicles, musical performances, the Riding of the Marches and other
>colourful events will add to the occasion.
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>The village fair is held on the same day, allowing bargain hunters full
>rein, while the townland banner parade is the only event of its kind in
>the British Isles.
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>The Gathering attracted 4,000 visitors last year and featured on a BBC
>Northern Ireland television documentary.
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>The event takes place in a village first settled by Scots in the early
>1600's, and a location which hosts the site of the first Presbyterian
>congregation in Ireland, established by Rev. Edward Brice of
>Stirlingshire in 1613.
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>The Gathering is intended to highlight the unique Scottish heritage of
>the village and has attracted visitors from as far away as Western
>Australia, South Carolina, Canada, Brazil, and Hong Kong. Hundreds of
>people from the village and surrounding areas take part in a fun family
>day out and the support of the Larne Borough Council and Ulster-Scots
>Agency have made it possible to stage the largest Ulster-Scots festival
>on the East Coast of Ulster.
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>Unique elements of the Gathering each year include a Common Riding by
>the Redhall Reivers - local horsemen and women who re-enact the Riding
>of the Marches so common in the Borders of Scotland - and the Townland
>Banner parade, the only such parade in Ireland.
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>There is also Scottish and Irish dancing, vintage vehicles, children's
>entertainments (which are free), stalls, exhibitions, pipe bands, lambeg
>drumming and lots more. The highlight of the day is the Broadisland
>Parade, which has grown in size each year and is a colourful display of
>village pride.
>The Broadisland Gathering is held on the first Saturday of September
>each year and further details are available from the Community
>Development Office at Loughside.
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