FAREWELL TO THE SEA STALLION!
Two-day Viking festival, 28-29 June 2008

2nd May 2008: A Viking Village, outdoor film screenings, street art and family entertainment all feature in a special Viking Festival which will take place in Dublin on 28th and 29th. The Festival has been developed to mark the departure of the Sea Stallion as it makes its return journey to its home town of Roskilde in Denmark.

The Festival will feature a range of activities for all ages and interests including:

• Farmers Food Market on Essex Street East and West, Temple Bar, 11am to 6pm each day
• Celtic/Nordic Mandala Street Art
• Viking Village, Wood Quay, 11am to 6pm each day
• Living History Displays, Wood Quay, 11am to 6pm each day
• Battle re-enactment, Wood Quay
• Strolling Danish fiddlers, Wood Quay and Temple Bar
• Out door screenings, Temple Bar

The Market will feature a selection of organic and whole foods including meats, cheese and fruit. It will lead visitors up Essex Street to the Amphitheatre where the Viking Village will be located. The Viking Village will feature a specially created Living History encampment with crafts displays based around woodwork, boat building, silversmith, leather work and textiles. A number of military displays and choreographed fight scenes will also take place.

The highlight of the festival will be the eagerly anticipated departure of the much loved Sea Stallion. The boat will leave for Denmark from Docklands on the morning of Sunday 29th June and Dubliners of all ages are invited to come along on the day to bid the crew farewell and enjoy a carnival atmosphere, with music and entertainment.

The 'Sea Stallion' arrived in Dublin last June and has been on display at the National Museum at Collins Barracks as part of a special Viking-themed exhibition.

The longship is an exact replica of a vessel built in Dublin in 1042 and which ended its days on the bottom of the Roskilde Fjord in Denmark later on in the eleventh century. The ship's arrival in Dublin marked the culmination of the Danish maritime archaeological project, 'Thoroughbred of the Sea', the most ambitious project of its kind ever undertaken. The expedition tested the ship's seaworthiness and speed in waters sailed by the original ship nine hundred years ago, providing valuable new information on Viking longships, their construction, use of raw materials, preferences for sail materials, navigation, sailing skills and organisational strengths.

Further details on the Festival will be announced over the coming weeks.

For further information, please contact:
Loretta Lambkin, Director of Marketing, Docklands Authority, Tel 01 818 3300
Christine Lydon WHPR, Tel 01 669 0030 or 087 283 7407