Game Fair, Shane's Castle

Kiltris

Any of ye been? Is it worth travelling? Would it be the same as Birr or would it better? I was going to head up and stay up for a night, I might even look into going camping for a night there.

Cass

Kiltris wrote: »

Any of ye been?

Yup. Many, many times.

Is it worth travelling? Would it be the same as Birr or would it better?

I've been going to it for years, and was brilliant. Plenty of Irish and English vendors a great day out. However recently it has gone to the dogs (and i don't mean trials). The last time i decided to go up was about 3-4 years ago. I was completely disgusted.

For the "averge Joe" it would be a decent day out, however with only two firearm vendors it was a let down. There were childrens/fairground stalls, plenty of food stalls, and arts & craft stalls. Then medieval reenactments. There was a clay shooting stand out the back, but nothing to get excited about. A couple of stations was all and it was as expensive as hell.

I ended up walking it in a couple of hours and then left. a day wasted. A shame really as it was the one fair i looked forward to. Unless things have changed in the last couple of years i'd give it a miss.

Birr is run by the same crowd and i've stopped going to it too.

I was going to head up and stay up for a night, I might even look into going camping for a night there.

The last fair i went to was the Borris fair 2 years ago. It was small, and i was not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. Now i won't say it was packed, it was not. There were a nice few stalls and more gun shops represented than in the Shane/Birr fair even though they are three-four times the size. Prices were keen on some items and decent on others. A few good trials in the centre arena, and just the right ratio of food/art & craft stalls.

IOW i was expecting X and got X. It was meant to be on last year but got cancelled at the last minute. No idea if it's on again.

Kiltris

Thanks Cass. The last thing I want is disappointment after travelling all that way. I swore I'd never go to Birr again after the last time. And like you I found Borris to be a great day out, I picked up plenty of bargains and tbh I was disappointed it wasn't on last year. Thanks for the heads up.

Do they ever list what stalls are going to be there before it's on?

Cass

I've yet to see them listed. It's usually only the sponsors that i've found which doesn't really tell you who is going to bee there.

I remember speaking to a few dealers that used to go and they cited the cost of it as the reason they wouldn't return. Hundreds of Euro for a small stall for one day and thousands for a larger stall for the weekend. One told me he'd have to do thousands in business just to break even and with the way things have been over the last 6-7 years that is simply not possible.

It's a terrible shame as i used to enjoy the trip up to Antrim and have family there so would make a weekend out of it.

Kiltris

It's such a shame that the organizers can't put together one decent show. I mean it's not as if there wouldn't be support for a good show. It's hard to imagine why they need to charge a couple of thousand for someone to throw up a stall.

No doubt we'll probably end up with no Game Fair to attend before someone puts in the effort to organizing one properly.

Springwell

Shane's Castle looks bigger than previous years (there's an entire gunmakers row this year vs a few stalls). We're going for the weekend as we are competing the spaniels, staying in a house on the estate. There is no camping on site this year.

MrTom1

I always good, great day out for the family