Venue Tollymore Forest Park
Date Fri, 23rd Jun 23 - Sun, 25th Jun 23
Starts 00:00 to 23:59
iCal file iCal

Event Description

You are warmly invited to the Tollymore Festival of Orienteering 2023.

The festival is now in its 14th year and is recognised across the island of Ireland as being a true celebration of our sport and community. The Tollymore Festival of O is about bringing the people of our sport together to connect, reconnect, enjoy the craic and, of course, enjoy quality orienteering!

Everyone is welcome to attend, from any club, anywhere and we hope to see our friends from Orienteering Ireland join us again.

We would like to encourage our hub members. Even if you aren’t a member (yet!) but would like to get a real feel for the ethos of orienteering in Northern Ireland, The Tollymore Festival is the place to do that, and you will be assured of a warm welcome!

For 2023, we have an exciting weekend of orienteering and activities based in the Newcastle area with camping and Barbeque at Tollymore Forest Park. The events and activities will take us beyond our base camp, to some favourite spots.

Schedule of Events and Activities

Orienteering Event 1 – Friday 23rd June – Urban orienteering at Newcastle.

The first event of the weekend is staged using the eclectic mix of urban, parkland and woods of Newcastle town with the amazing Slieve Donard as a backdrop. There are three courses on offer, Short, Medium and Long.

Parking – car parking (under 7’3″) will be in Islands Park, off Bryansford Avenue BT33 0AY.

Motorhomes and caravans must park at Newcastle Tennis Club, off Bryansford Road and follow the footpaths over to Islands Park. There should be ample room but if this is full please park your tall vehicles at Donard Park (use SE entrance) and walk over.

Registration/Download  – will be operated from a car in Islands Park. Look out for the banner!

If you have entered with an SI card, proceed to the signposted start. If you need to register or hire a free card see registration.

Registration will open from 6.15pm to 7.45pm. Starts are assigned in 15min blocks from 6.30pm to 8pm.

Courses

• Long  –  5.0 km – Due to road crossings this course is not suitable for U16s*
• Medium  –  3.9 km – Due to road crossings this course is not suitable for U16s*
• Short  –  1.3 km

*U16s can be shadowed by an adult to ensure safe crossing of roads.

Controls will be SIAC enabled with a punching start/finish

Entry prices

• Senior  –  £7/£9  (IOF member/non-member)
• Junior  –  £3/£4  (mem/non-mem)
• Max charge for family  –  £17/£22 (mem/non-mem)

TO ENTER THE URBAN EVENT CLICK HERE.

Urban entries close Wed 21st, 11pm! There will be a limited supply of maps for entry-on-day.

Safety

Main roads will be marked as such on the map. You must use any compulsory crossing points or traffic islands marked. Obey instructions from any marshals – they are there for your safety. Be very aware of traffic on minor roads too.

Some controls will have runners exiting the control against people approaching it. Be cautious of other competitors moving at speed. Always be polite and respectful to other people especially residents whose streets we are using.

 

Recommend clothing – shorts/vests are permissible as the courses are a mix of road and parkland.

Please hydrate and dress accordingly. There may be a need for cagoules if the weather demands it.

Facilities – all public toilets will be closed after 6PM unfortunately. WCs will be available at Tollymore campsite.

With thanks to planner Fionne Austin and controller Stephanie Pruzina.

 

Note: there is a separate entry link for the Saturday event and the camping – see below.

Camping Available on Friday and Saturday night at Tollymore Forest Park – see below for more information.

Orienteering Event 2 – Saturday 24th June – NIOA Colour Series and Club Championships – Meelmore.

We return to Meelmore, one of the best areas of open hill orienteering in the country, for the NI Colour Series – there will be a range of colour courses available, so suitable for all ages and abilities.

This event is also doubling up as the LVO Club Championships.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO ENTER THE COLOUR SERIES?CLUB CHAMPS CLICK HERE.

I’ve be told the Brown will be particularly challenging, just saying.

Parking is £4 per car – pay at reception at Meelmore Lodge.

Planner: George Savell

Orienteering Event 3 – Sunday 26th June 2022 – Tollymore Score

On the Sunday morning there will be a 60 minute Score Course set out in Tollymore forest.

The start, finish, registration and download will be adjacent to the campsite. This activity is free to enter on the day – no online entry necessary.

Expected start time, approximately 11am.

Camping

Camping is available in the Tollymore Forest ‘youth’ camping field (not the main camping area) from Friday through to Sunday at a reduced cost of £8 per adult. Children 16 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Enter Tollymore Forest Park from the Bryansford Road. There is a one way system and the exit from the park is to the Hilltown Road.

Toilet and shower facilities are adjacent to the campsite.

Barbeque

The Barbeque will be at 18:00 on Saturday. Please indicate on SI Entries your preference for meat or vegetarian. We encourage you  to bring your own cups, plates and cutlery to reduce single use plastic.

Barbeque costs £15 for adult and £7 for juniors of primary school age, 12 and under.

Boules

There will be a Boules knock out tournament – if you have a set of boules please bring them with you and we can run several matches at the same time.

NIOA AGM will also be held in the group campsite at approximately 3.30pm.

Booking and Entry

Booking for the BBQ and Camping are available by clicking on the link below. If you are just attending the Social then select “Social Only” at the bottom of the course list on the first page. You do not need to enter the event. If you are entering Meelmore event as well then you can select a course first then add any number of camping and/or BBQ tickets at the end of your entry.

TO ENTER THE SATURDAY MEELMORE EVENT AND/OR CAMPING & BBQ, CLICK HERE

Note: there is a separate entry link to the Friday Urban event, see above.

Location

Tollymore Forest Park
Campsite
Newcastle
BT33 0PW

Volunteers

To volunteer at this event please email volunteer@lvo.org.uk. You can find information on each role here as well as the current list of volunteers.