A new virtual game fair will launch soon. It will replace the 2020 game fair due to issues around Covid-19 and public health safety and will provide lots of interesting items on country sporting life.
The virtual game fair will be launching soon at the end of August.
As many county sports enthusiasts will be aware when Covid-19 struck the Game Fair organisers put in place contingency plans to postpone the fair planned for Shane’s Castle in June.
Later, as the pandemic became more serious, they implemented the contingency plan to run the Fair on the 29/30 August.
Unfortunately, they have now had to take the final difficult decision to postpone the Irish Game Fair until NEXT YEAR on 26/27 June 2021.
Game Fair organiser Albert Titterington said: “It was a difficult decision to make as we had everything in place: a new layout, a Covid compliant plan, right down to branded face masks and loads of sanitiser and a good range of new exhibitors were committed to being there.
“However, in spite of all that we had done, recent spikes and clusters in the UK and in particular in NI and the ROI created the additional dimension of a greater health risk to visitors, exhibitors, competitors and staff safety which we felt we could not ignore. Accordingly the 2020 Shane’s Castle Game Fair will not take place.”
Albert Titterington added that many thanks were due to a number of people and organisations who worked with us to try to deliver the 2020 fair, including Game Fair hosts the Rt Hon Shane O’Neill at Shane’s Castle and staff at Antrim & Newtownabbey Council; fair contractors; event organisers and entertainers; and sponsors and exhibitors.
And he had a special word of thanks to the Great Game Fairs of Ireland team who invested a great deal of time and money making plans and then amending them.
But there was some excellent news for would-be Game Fair patrons and traders as well as the many local businesses and guest houses who reap benefit from the annual Shane’s Castle extravaganza.
Going live on the Internet – soon – will be a unique VIRTUAL GAME FAIR.
Soon, the public worldwide can visit the VIRTUAL GAME FAIR website to enjoy the sights and sounds of a real game fair, alongside a huge range of special virtual trade stands, competitions and country fun, a battery of local information, details of conservation and country based activities, country cooking, special produce, local tourism highlights, special attractions and much much more.
Outlining the new VIRTUAL GAME FAIR concept which was soon to become REALITY, Albert Titterington explained: “Part of our contingency planning was that if we had to postpone the Fair until 2021 we would run a VIRTUAL GAME FAIR in 2020 which could entertain and engage a huge public worldwide right through to the ‘real’ Shanes Castle event in 2021.
“We wanted to give something entertaining to the general public by way of compensation, while at the same time highlighting all that our traders and indeed the local area could still offer RIGHT NOW – RIGHT AWAY.
“How very apt that the slogan will be: ‘The Game Fair you can visit every day.’
“It’s a BRAND NEW CONCEPT – and you will hear a lot more very soon as the site is already designed and is currently being built online.
“However, I am delighted to confirm now that our ‘world first’ VIRTUAL GAME FAIR 2020 will be open for business at:
on the 29th & 30th August 2020 and be active throughout the year until the real fair takes place on the 26/27 June 2021..
“The Virtual Game Fair will run throughout the year 24/7 with an exciting mix of exhibitors, competitions and bargains galore and will provide a gateway to information on tourism and attractions in the area.”
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(The Shanes Castle Fair & THE VIRTUAL GAME FAIR are supported by Antrim & Newtownabbey Council).
For further details see www.irishgamefair.com Fair Video https://vimeo.com/441390765
Contact: irishgamefair@btinternet.com
