Howth Prawn Festival - What did people think

Twoandahalfmen

So the yearly Howth Prawn festival was on this weekend,
I went up today with my cousin and brother and a chipper few drinks few goes on the bumper cars. Did any here on boards get a chance to go up there.:):)

D

I didn't go, but the GF and her friends went. They really enjoyed it.

Lots of good food.
I kind of wish that I had went now.
I assume it will be on again next year?

kylith

If I'd known it was on I'd have gone. I love prawns with a passion they'd probably lock me up for.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Was it advertised?.

I live five minutes from Howth and never heard or seen a thing otherwise I'd have paid a visit.

kylith

The first I heard of it was on an ad on telly last night. I thought to myself that I must keep an eye out for what date it's on, so I was a bit annoyed to come on here and discover it was already over.

tricky D

It was well attended with parking being very hard to find (our road was full to the brim and our relations had to park blocking our driveway which is a rare need) and the traffic from Blackbanks, Raheny to Sutton taking about an hour to get through for much of the day.

Beyond Howth it wasn't well advertised. I saw nothing beyond the peninsula. Howth is Magic, who run the festival, should have the budget to provide more publicity.

I'll notify you all here next year if you want.

My sisters' young ones had a great weekend with face-painting, candy floss, fairground rides, etc. Enjoyed the 10 mins of fireworks on Saturday night at the Martello tower from my grandstand seat.:)

miss no stars

major problem I saw was that the food didn't start until 1. In my opinion, that's too late. I think even 1230 would have been more reasonable. If you're up and have breakfast early, lunchtime is around about 1230. The place was jammed from 1100 onwards! That said, nice atmosphere and good to see the place busy.

ProudDUB

Shelby Early Lumbar wrote: »

Was it advertised?.

I live five minutes from Howth and never heard or seen a thing otherwise I'd have paid a visit.

Agreed. I'm in Sutton, and I didn't know it was on either. I knew the event existed as I saw flyers for it last year ( in one of the fish shops on the West Pier I think) but I had no idea it was on this weekend. It certainly needs to be promoted more if locals like you and me didn't even know it was on. Was in the Abbey Tavern today, and overheard the barmen talking about how jammers it was yesterday and how they ran out of Guinness last night, so am glad they got a good crowd.

I guess they have a limited budget.

Why spend money on advertising if they're already jammers? Surely any extra funds would need to be used to increase the space/put in more rides/events before trying to get more people in?

D

I heard it being advertised on RTE radio 1

arleitiss

oh is that's that happened there? me and my friends were just on way to top of howth and saw this fair, so we stayed and parked. Had fun looking at seals swimming. got photos too

neris

Wasnt at it was over in Dun Laoghaire all day but heard one one of the restaurant owners from howth saying that the Gardai were out taking drink of a lot of people at the dart station and was no trouble during the day. I think the "Howth is Magic" crowd is headed by the Wrights along with a few other businesses in the village so wouldnt think they have a huge advertising budget and the council are pushing money their way. Wait till the pay parking comes in and be interesting to see how parking will be next year but a few other festivals around Howth would be good for the area.

AnonoBoy

I was out there at it. Great food, traffic out and parking was tough though.

I was amazed that there's not pay parking in Howth.

miss no stars

AnonoBoy wrote: »

I was out there at it. Great food, traffic out and parking was tough though.

I was amazed that there's not pay parking in Howth.

364/365 days a year there's no need for it.

AnonoBoy

miss no stars wrote: »

364/365 days a year there's no need for it.

Fair enough.

I was just surprised to see anywhere in Dublin that you don't have to pay!

tricky D

miss no stars wrote: »

364/365 days a year there's no need for it.

The risk of it being introduced has sharply increased recently despite it not being needed. It was talked about a few years ago and dropped but now appears to be on the agenda again. If it comes, it'll go down extremely badly. There was a warden on a campaign a year or two ago but that was stopped. Also the Gardaí have little interest in issuing tickets here as businesses were furious at the threat to their custom. Business is tough enough as it is and too many shops have shut already.

Besides it isn't parking that's the biggest problem, it's the traffic queues on sunny weekends from Blackbanks to Sutton X. The sequence at the Baldoyle Road traffic lights isn't prioritised well for volumes on such sunny days.

miss no stars

tricky D wrote: »

The risk of it being introduced has sharply increased recently despite it not being needed. It was talked about a few years ago and dropped but now appears to be on the agenda again. If it comes, it'll go down extremely badly. There was a warden on a campaign a year or two ago but that was stopped. Also the Gardaí have little interest in issuing tickets here as businesses were furious at the threat to their custom. Business is tough enough as it is and too many shops have shut already.

Besides it isn't parking that's the biggest problem, it's the traffic queues on sunny weekends from Blackbanks to Sutton X. The sequence at the Baldoyle Road traffic lights isn't prioritised well for volumes on such sunny days.

I know, and Simon Coveny just seems to think Howth and its residents are a cash cow to be exploited. Pretty much even said as much, his proxy was in the Seanad answering questioning on the recent proposals and, I paraphrase, said something along the lines of "well it's not an issue anyway because Howth is one of the wealthiest areas in Dublin". As in, fcuk you we want your money and don't care if all the small fishmongers and restaurants go out of business when you don't use the harbour any more. The biggest laugh I thought was all the referencing of the "DART car park". As in, the one they extended the track onto?!

As for the lights at the Baldoyle Road, they just aren't properly sequenced at all. Every single rush hour they hold traffic up all the way to Blackbanks. If they were to get a CPO for one lane's worth of land for 100m back from the junction (heading towards Howth) so that there could be a turn left filter lane onto the Baldoyle road it'd go a massive way to solving the traffic problem along the coast. Sunny days, however, I don't think much can be done about that.

tricky D

miss no stars wrote: »

I know, and Simon Coveny just seems to think Howth and its residents are a cash cow to be exploited. Pretty much even said as much, his proxy was in the Seanad answering questioning on the recent proposals and, I paraphrase, said something along the lines of "well it's not an issue anyway because Howth is one of the wealthiest areas in Dublin". As in, fcuk you we want your money and don't care if all the small fishmongers and restaurants go out of business when you don't use the harbour any more. The biggest laugh I thought was all the referencing of the "DART car park". As in, the one they extended the track onto?!

As for the lights at the Baldoyle Road, they just aren't properly sequenced at all. Every single rush hour they hold traffic up all the way to Blackbanks. If they were to get a CPO for one lane's worth of land for 100m back from the junction (heading towards Howth) so that there could be a turn left filter lane onto the Baldoyle road it'd go a massive way to solving the traffic problem along the coast. Sunny days, however, I don't think much can be done about that.

Shop owners struggle in wealthy areas too with plenty of business closures happening all the time. He's a numpty. Besides Howth isn't all anywhere near as wealthy as he thinks.

As for the turn-off, there's already quite a wide pavement for almost 60 metres where the bus stop is. Pinching an extra 2 metres to the sea side of the road would make your idea a go-er with little overhead.

As for rush hours and not just sunny days, you're right, I often end up doing the Blackbanks to Sutton Park rat-run at those times.

ScouseMouse

I found out about it that morning, by doing a google for whats on today.

Took the family and mother in law. Found parking handy enough at noon, down on the pier and went for a wander.

The farmers market over by the gem was quite good. Lots of small stalls with all sorts of weird and wonderful food. Even gluten-free for the wife.

Over at the other little market next to the bloody stream there were interesting little stalls with lovely home made sauces and stuff.

Coastguard station was open to the public and I enjoyed showing my 8 year old the different equipment, the boat, and rescue van. She was allowed to jump into the boat and sit on the quad bike.

I think the funfair was quite reasonable, dodgems 3 euro per car. I gave the 8 year old whiplash

Only guard I saw was down at the bloody stream and he was good for a bit of banter with the kids. After buying some fresh fish we headed off about 4pm. Was a nice afternoon out.

SlipperyPeople

Hey guys,

Sorry to drag up the old thread but wondered if this is worth heading to this weekend?

Someone mentioned it was a bit of a taste of dublin affair where you buy vouchers and not great value.

Cheers,

neris

was in howth tuesday & wednesday night and alot of marquees were up. id expect howth to be chaos for the weekend and traffic is going to be heavy with a 1 way system around the peninsula and no car access to the west pier

arybvtcw0eolkf

This is a pisser. Hardly any advertising (if any) again.

I had some Swiss friends out in Howth yesterday, done the usual cliff walks, harbour, bars etc.. And of course only heard about it then, and they've no time for another Howth visit before going home Monday.

ProudDUB

hungoverbunny wrote: »

Hey guys,

Sorry to drag up the old thread but wondered if this is worth heading to this weekend?

Someone mentioned it was a bit of a taste of dublin affair where you buy vouchers and not great value.

Cheers,

Was there last year, on the Friday. You pay a fiver for a plastic token, which is redeemable at all of the vendors serving food. They don't take cash. Not sure about the booze. They were serving Heineken & hot whiskies, but I was driving, so just brought a bottle of water. I got parking ok, down by the West Pier. It was early enough in the afternoon, freezing cold & showery, so the crowds & the parking situ weren't too bad. I imagine it will be a different story on Saturday & Sunday.

The grub was ok...decent value for a fiver. There isn't much seating. There is a tent to hang out in, but it can get packed pretty quickly. The tables can get a bit messy with over flowing plastic plates & cups. They could do a better job of clearing up after people, or providing more bins. Other than the food, there isn't a lot going on, especially if the weather is bad & going for a wander down the pier, or around the harbour isn't an enticing prospect.

I'll deffo head in for an hour or two sometime over the weekend, as I live near by & I can jump on the Dart. Don't think I'd cross the city to get to it, especially if the weather is uncooperative.

uck51js9zml2yt

Went out today. It was a total wash out and rip off.

€7 for a token or €20 for 3
Got one token and had a cone of chips and 3 scampi!


Did i say it was a rip off???

We then went over the road and had a nice dinner:)

BabysCoffee

They have a twitter page here https://twitter.com/DubBayPrawnFest and website http://dublinbayprawnfestival.ie/

Was thinking of visiting if the weather was good - but am going to give it a miss

arybvtcw0eolkf

Quinn Icy Fibula wrote: »

Went out today. It was a total wash out and rip off.

€7 for a token or €20 for 3
Got one token and had a cone of chips and 3 scampi!


Did i say it was a rip off???

We then went over the road and had a nice dinner:)

Sh*t, my Swiss visitors rearranged their Saturday to go :mad:

Good ol' rip off Ireland.

Dr Crayfish

€7 for chips and scampi sounds reasonable to me, this is Dublin afterall. I was looking forward to this, but no way am I going near it in this horrible weather. That's why these kind of things should be held indoors in Ireland.

Love2love

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

€7 for chips and scampi sounds reasonable to me, this is Dublin afterall. I was looking forward to this, but no way am I going near it in this horrible weather. That's why these kind of things should be held indoors in Ireland.

Apt username

Last year was crazy packed and we couldn't get parking. The queues were horrendous too but it could have just been the time we went. €5 per token last year and €7 this year? The weather would definitely put you off. I remember a couple of years ago it was on during the summer which to me was much better considering it's so open!

BeerNut

Shelby Early Lumbar wrote: »

Hardly any advertising (if any) again.

Saw a poster for it on the bus yesterday.

Hollister11

Plenty of advertising on public transport and social media.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Myself and the Swiss went yesterday after all.. And what a load of rubbish.

We ended up eating in O'Connells. Then went and signed the book of condolences at the coast guard station, took a boat trip around Irelands Eye (we couldn't go ashore because of bad weather).

But tbh its stretching the imagination to market this as a 'festival'.

uck51js9zml2yt

Shelby Early Lumbar wrote: »

Myself and the Swiss went yesterday after all.. And what a load of rubbish.

We ended up eating in O'Connells. Then went and signed the book of condolences at the coast guard station, took a boat trip around Irelands Eye (we couldn't go ashore because of bad weather).

But tbh its stretching the imagination to market this as a 'festival'.

Don't want to say i told you so...BUT....I did

We usually eat in Crabby Joe's. Getting the "regular treatment" at this stage( go in once a month when buying fish in Reid's or Dorans)

Pawwed Rig

Was there on Friday. Food was fine at €7 each. They had a stage there where I was expecting some entertainment but there was nothing while I was there.
Missus enjoyed cookery demos.

subpar

Big traffic jams exiting Howth this evening.

Pawwed Rig

subpar wrote: »

Big traffic jams exiting Howth this evening.

We got the DART which was a bit of a nightmare tbh. Will drive in future

hungry hypno toad

Hollister11 wrote: »

Plenty of advertising on public transport and social media.

Didn't see any and use the DART and LUAS for my work commute.

odyssey06

Am guessing they are trying to attract some of the extra visitors in Dublin, here for the parade... from a weather perspective, late spring \ summer or early autumn would be better. But they hardly need to do anything in summer to get people to Howth...

neris

subpar wrote: »

Big traffic jams exiting Howth this evening.

i was out collecting car about 650 and traffic was light enough and moving. seen it way worse and way heavier then that

arybvtcw0eolkf

neris wrote: »

i was out collecting car about 650 and traffic was light enough and moving. seen it way worse and way heavier then that

My Swiss group took the DART. I cycled and met them there.

I love Howth and promote it as often as I can. But I wouldn't be recommending this festival to anyone in future, its really nothing special or festive.

Stephen15

Dr Crayfish wrote: »

€7 for chips and scampi sounds reasonable to me, this is Dublin afterall. I was looking forward to this, but no way am I going near it in this horrible weather. That's why these kind of things should be held indoors in Ireland.

It sounds riddiculous why they'd have such a thing in the middle of March. Surely this is more of a Summer type event.

uck51js9zml2yt

Stephen15 wrote: »

It sounds riddiculous why they'd have such a thing in the middle of March. Surely this is more of a Summer type event.

seemingly its the prawn season:)

ProudDUB

Quinn Icy Fibula wrote: »

seemingly its the prawn season:)

I was wondering about that too. It's the wrong time of year, weatherwise to be holding an event like this. Are prawns seasonal? If they moved it back to the May Bank Holiday weekend (when the weather is likely to be better) would the 6 week wait, make all that big of a difference to the quality of the product? It would certainly make a big difference to the enjoyment of the event imo.

There were two Garda checkpoints at Sutton Cross yesterday, one at lunch time and one at tea time. Having two seemed excessive. It made getting thru Sutton Cross a right pain in the arse, if you just wanted to get to the Supervalu or the Dart station, never mind to/from Howth. Anyone know what they were checking for...drink drivers, tax/NCT etc?

Love2love

As far as I know, Prawn Season is the end of summer. The festival use to be held in early Summer but I think it was moved to Paddy's weekend last year I suppose to get more people attending.

Edit: Just checked the date of this thread and it was held end of April a couple of years ago. Could have been changed to avoid clashing with Easter...

Sebastian Dangerfield

Went there early on Friday. For some reason they didnt have the marquee erected when it opened so we stood in the cold and rain watching our drinks blow away in the wind until it got too much and we gave up. The man apologising and promising "another 10 mins or so" every 10 minutes didnt help.

The €7 tokens were fine at some stalls. Others were only giving tiny portions.

Seems like a missed opportunity to have it so early in the year

badker

Went Saturday good cooking presentations and decent choice of stalls. Some stalls gave better portions than others but its your choice. Music on in the bandstand. Also there was a nice tent of stalls promoting local business and associations in Howth. DART out was no hassle.

uck51js9zml2yt

The upshot for my kids trying scampi was that my 6 year old help me pull the heads off a load the following day for me to cook scampi and chips which they are and enjoyed:D

Note to self...Buy frozen prepared ones next time

Samuel T. Cogley

Seemed a bit fishy to me... Budum tish.

uck51js9zml2yt

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Seemed a bit fishy to me... Budum tish.

there's definitely a plaice for everything and a ray of sunshine in our lives....providing of course no one is codding us...:)
ill get my coat!