The Ballywalter Game & Country Living Fair 'kicks off' the 2012 Irish countryside show season in real style with a real family entertainment spectacular.

The Irish game and country fair season gets off to a very stylish start in the beautiful traditional setting of Ballywalter Park Estate on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th May 2012 with more attractions and special Great Game Fairs of Ireland family admission packages where visitors to Ballywalter qualify for some serious price reductions for admission to the fairs at Shanes & Birr Castles

This event is not only guaranteed to be one of the most stylish game or country fairs of the season but provides great value for money entertainment for the family who live, work or play in the Irish Countryside.

Highlights include:

A Flavour first
For the first time in the atmospheric setting of the Victorian courtyard of the house, there's the Fine Food Festival organised by Flavour magazine where you can sample food 'try before you buy' and enjoy cookery demonstrations. In the yard there are also kids activities and a display of rabbits, guinea pigs and fowl plus music by Ulster Scots group 'Risin Stour.' Alongside delicious artisan food there is the recently launched Titanic whiskey, while Château de la Ligne offers the chance to the win a weekend at the Chateau in France.

Some of the Best Irish Countrysports Competitions with unrivalled prizes, great displays plus lots of 'have a go' opportunities.
There are qualifiers for the All Ireland All Comers & Novice Game Fair Championships in clay shooting, fly casting and gundog handling. Winners go forward to the finals at Birr Castle and Shanes Castle.

The Year of the 'Salmon & Trout'
Our 2012 theme, the 'Year of the Salmon and Trout,' starts at Ballywalter with an enhanced Angling Village with a large Angling Pavilion as its centre piece. APGAI Ireland, FISSTA, GAIA and other organisations will be there along with game & fish cookery; sporting art, fly tying, casting competitions and displays.

Great Gundogs & Two International Lurcher Challenges

The Great Game Fairs of Ireland are renowned for the quality of their dog events with excellent prizes for both gundogs & terriers & lurchers plus the chance to experience international competition.
Lurchers are particularly well catered for with Qualifiers for The Master McGrath Challenge to find the fastest dog in the UK and Ireland over 150 yards with its final at the Shanes Castle Fair and there's the Five Nations Lurcher Show Championships with its final at Birr. Each event has a top prize structure of over €1,000 for the winners. There are also great show prizes for the terrier, whippet & lurcher show at Ballywalter

Clay-shooting
The top four guns qualify for the final of the All Ireland Game Fair Championships at Birr and the top four novice guns for the final of the Barbour Novice Championships at Shanes Castle. The prize fund for the shooting at Ballywalter is still mounting, but prizes already include a Bettinsoli Shotgun, two quality watches, vouchers for top quality clothing and significant cash prizes donated by Irish Countrysports and Country Life magazine. Clay shooting is part of a trio of events for the new BASC / ICS&CL Wildfowler Challenge for wildfowlers.

Some of the event organisers and entertainers who will provide superb competitions and displays at Ballywalter

The Tented Village
The outstanding Angling Village is matched by enlarged displays of guns, accessories, clothing, canine products, fine food and indeed everything connected with country living and lifestyle. Two keynote features are a new Fine Food & Craft Village and the County Down Past & Present Pavilion featuring traditional crafts, wildfowling a antique weapons exhibit, the Linen Museum, traditional spinning, weaving and dyeing displays, quilting and even a Titanic display.

Living History
See carriages and vintage vehicles, Napoleonic and Victorian military encampment and displays, traditional falconry, period angling and Victorian archery displays and a unique live punt gunning demonstration on the lake.

An Ulster Scots 'first'
The Ulster-Scots Agency will have a presence at the Fair, with entertainment by traditional Ulster-Scots group Risin' Stour. The Agency hopes to show Ulster-Scots cultural traditions including music, dance, poetry, language and living history / re-enactments later at Shane's Castle and Birr Castle. This will be the first time that Ulster-Scots has been showcased at the Great Game Fairs of Ireland.

Children
Ballywalter's family focus includes a host of attractions to entertain and educate and kids can meet ferrets, falcons, sea life, rabbits, fowl, guinea pigs and even pythons and spiders. Plus there is of course the normal childrens' entertainments and huge opportunities to 'have a go' at a number of events including air rifle shooting and archery.

The Great Game Fairs of Ireland are famed for their Action Packed Main Arena Programmes
Displays include the Victorian Poacher, muzzle loaders, Napoleonic firepower; horse drawn vehicles and vintage vehicles and Georgian theatre. These will combine with gundogs, horses and hounds, dog agility, terrier & lurcher and falconry displays, plus the Cochise Horses and the inimitable Dog Guru Keith Mathews' training class.

The event is supported by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Ards Borough Council

ADMISSION PAYABLE AT GATE : ADULTS £10 Family £25 Parking and programme free (you can also download a printable programme from this site)

Persons purchasing tickets at the Ballywalter Fair receive the following discounted admission vouchers to our other fairs : A family will get a £15 Voucher for Shanes Castle Fair and a €20 Voucher for Birr Castle giving great family value admission to the Shanes Castle & Birr Castle events of JUST £10 and €15 respectively. Purchasers of Adult tickets get a £5 admission Voucher for Shanes Castle and a €10 voucher for Birr giving admission to these fairs FOR £5 and €5 respectively.

For further details of the fair : Email : irishgamefair@btinternet.com or call 028 44839167 /44615416