The Scottish Maritime Museum will host a celebration weekend with free entry, Makers Market, traditional fairground games and model boats, trains and lifeboats on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July as part of North Ayrshire’s Making Waves festival. 11am – 4pm Saturday 23 & Sunday 24 July
Visitors to the award-winning Museum on Irvine Harbourside will discover a host of fun activities and games to enjoy inside the Linthouse and across the Courtyard as well as the chance to dive into the new ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition.
Traditional fairground games and activities will include ‘Hook-a-Duck’, ‘Hoopla’ and ‘Ball in a Bucket’ and a giant inflatable ‘Helter Skelter’ slide.
Visitors can also shop ‘til they drop in the Makers Market. Goods and crafts made and sold by artisans and local businesses will range from candles and well-being goodies, homeware and art to clothing, jewellery, crafts and even the perfect accessories for ‘pooches’!
For those wanting to refuel in between all the activity, Reggaelicious Food Truck will serve up a delicious taste of the Caribbean.
Over at the outdoor Boating Pond, Irvine Model Boat Club will float visitors’ boats with a display including scale replicas of two of the Museum’s most popular historic vessels, the Lifeboat TGB and what is believed to be the world’s oldest seagoing steam yacht, SY Carola.
The TGB model was painstakingly crafted on a fibreglass hull to plans drawn up by the RNLI. The model of SY Carola has been designed to look like it would have done at launch in 1898.
Kilmarnock Model Railway Club will also be on show with their popular Thomas the Tank Engine layout and the RNLI will bring a display of model lifeboats.
The festival weekend is also part of the Scottish Maritime Museum’s ‘Come and Sea Us’ events programme which runs throughout the summer.
Abigail McIntyre, Curator at the Scottish Maritime Museum, says:
“We’re delighted to support North Ayrshire’s Making Waves festival with an extra special celebration weekend.
“As well as enjoying free entry to the Museum, visitors can have fun pitting their wits at fairground games, shop in the Makers Market, check out the model boat, train and lifeboat displays and taste delicious food. The weekend is going to be a don’t miss summer outing for all the family!”
The Scottish Maritime Museum’s family-friendly blockbuster exhibition, ‘Sea Monsters!’ celebrates the fantastical and mythical sea creatures of Scottish legend and maritime mythology across the world.
Highlights include fabulous fossils on loan from The Huntarian at the University of Glasgow –an Ichthyosaurus (large marine reptile); an Acrodus Anningiae (extinct cartilaginous fish); an Carcharocles Megalodon (pre-cursor to Great White Shark); and a Rhizodus Hibberti (an extinct fish).
Art on show includes sculptor Andy Scott’s Kelpie maquettes, artwork by illustrator and designer Axel Gutapfel and Irvine artist Maree Hughes’ interpretation of the legend of the Selkies or ‘seal people’ from the Northern Isles.
Other ‘Come and Sea Us’ children’s activities over the summer school holidays include ‘Little Sea Monsters’ sessions for under fives, Sea Monsters Make and Takes and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) sessions for all ages as well as Sea Monsters Art Workshops and a week-long Sea Monsters Theatre Workshop for over tens.
The ‘Come and Sea Us’ programme has been made possible by the support of the Museum and Galleries Scotland (MGS) Museums Recovery Fund.