Rain doesn’t dampen Tarbert Seafood Festival high spirits
Tarbert’s Seafood Festival was back with a splash last weekend as locals and visitors joined together to celebrate the much-loved two-day festival.
Despite the showery conditions, crowds descended on Tarbert from mid-morning on Saturday to visit the stalls which lined the harbour, selling a range of crafts as well as lots of tasty treats.
Among the pakora, burgers, confectionery and home baking, seafood was, of course, the order of the day.
Fresh fish was for sale, to be taken home and cooked later, but if you couldn’t wait to eat, seafood dishes were being prepared and cooked by some of the local eateries; this really was the perfect place to be for any seafood lover.
Of course, Tarbert Seafood Festival isn’t just about food, it’s about family fun and this year the festival delivered it by the tractor load.
The official start of the event is the crowning of the Seafood Queen. This year the honour was given to Keira Guy, who was joined in royal duties by her princesses Caelyn Graham and Macey Fair.
It fell to Anne Horn to introduce Tarbert’s 2022 royal family to the assembled crowd before 2019 Seafood Queen Nell Jackson placed the Seafood Festival crown on Keira’s head.
No Seafood Festival is complete without a parade and the theme this year was Down on the Farm which featured all creatures great and small – from Old MacDonald’s Farm to Clarkson’s Farm with Tarbert FARMacy also making an appearance.
Street entertainment was provided by the talented Dimitri who juggled, modelled balloons and unicycled his way into the hearts of the crowd.
Polly Hoops had youngsters of all ages trying to master the art of hula hooping and the Absurdist Pipe Band made sure that everyone was in the festival spirit.
And that festival spirit continued right into Sunday with the return of Beer on the Pier, where the crowd was entertained by girl group Feeva, a tribute to Robbie Williams and Freddie Mercury who had everyone singing along, and local favourites the Democrats. The official part of the afternoon saw the serious business of the Seafood Festival prizegiving. Margaret MacNeill presented the prizes, on behalf of the festival committee to the youngsters who had taken part in the shop window and art competitions.
It was then on to the business
of the Best Float which was awarded to Laura MacGregor, Best in Parade went to Tarbert FARMacy and Best Shop Window, which took a different direction this year and went to Helen Preston for her outstanding artwork on Saturday’s trailer stage.
Speaking to the crowd Margaret said: ‘We are so glad to see so many of you here, despite the weather. As always, I’d like to give a special thanks to our valued and vital sponsors, Argyll and Bute Council, Tarbert Harbour Authority and Tarbert Enterprise Company.
‘There are too many people to thank individually, but I must thank our wonderful royal family, thank you to Queen Keira and Princesses Caelyn and Macey, you did the village proud.
‘I’m delighted we’ve been able to hold the festival this year, but we have to remember why we haven’t been able to be together since 2019. With that in mind I’d like you to raise a toast to absent friends.’
As the 2022 Tarbert Seafood Festival comes to a close, the planning starts for next year, July 1-2 2023.