New Lodge Festival – Summer Family Fun & Information Day

Thursday 3rd August saw the start of the New Lodge Festival Programme.

As part of the festival programme, a Summer Family Fun & Information Day, organised by Newington Housing Association in partnership with Ashton Community Trust was held at St Patricks School.

This event was open to all families in North Belfast and was a mix of fun and information on a number of brilliant services working within North Belfast.

The sun shone and the children were entertained outside with the bouncy castles and go karts. With the delicious smell of bar-b-que wafting who could resist a burger or hotdog after all the activity. Parents were able to sit in the sun while the children played and conversations and catch ups were had, with for a change, no worries about rain.

Inside there were other fun activities for the children including arts and crafts and hair tinselling.

Groups and organisation’s such as Ashton Family Services, Newington Housing Association, Action Mental Health, Community Restorative Justice Ireland and Belfast Advice all had information stands, with a plethora of advice and some very useful freebies on offer.

One mum attending said: “Myself and the kids were very much looking forward to today. They have had so much fun and so have I. You miss catching up with others when school is off, so today has been that, sitting in the sun and chatting and catching up
with other mums. I picked up some really useful information from the stalls inside and will have a look through it later. The Festival is always brilliant and so much effort is put in. Thank you to everyone for today.”

Given the wonderful weather, no-one in a rush to go home, with conversations, catch ups and the fun running well into the late afternoon.