Oyster Festival
The Oyster Festival at Hillsborough's Plough Inn attracts around 15,000 visitors to the pretty Georgian village for a weekend of slippery shenanigans. As always, the main purpose of the festival is to raise money for charity.

The Plough acts as headquarters and host of the Regional Northern Ireland heats for the World Oyster Eating Competition on Thursday evening. The finals take place on Saturday afternoon, presided over by the current champion. A motley crew of assorted oyster-eaters are judged on who has eaten the most oysters and drunk the most Guinness!

Much depends on the weather, but a fine-looking sky always guarantees a good turnout for the non-stop entertainment around the village throughout the week.

Some of the other highlights include the Friday night gala ball and the Saturday night concert and dance, both held in The Plough Inn Marquee, specially erected in front of Hillsborough castle. During the day there is a big emphasis on children's entertainment, as well as vintage car displays, tug-o-wars and even a raft race on the local lake.

Traditional Costume
Early Irish dress, based on Gaelic and Norse costumes, consisted of check trews for men, worn with a fringed cloak or mantle, or a short tunic for both men and women, worn with a fringed cloak. This style of dressing was prohibited in the 16th century under sumptuary laws, passed to suppress the distinctive Irish dress and so overcome Irish reluctance to become part of England.

In particular, the wearing of the fringed cloak was forbidden; as was the wearing of trews or any saffron-coloured garment (saffron yellow was an important feature of Irish costume).  Although a strong tradition of wearing folk costume does not survive in Northern Ireland today, folk music and folk dancing are very important.

Source:http://www.istc.org
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