Band parade on Open weekend is hailed a huge success as crowds pack Portrush

Belfast Telegraph

4 days ago

More than 80 bands marched through the town, with locals saying it was a huge success.
The annual parade, organised by the local Sons of Ulster Flute Band, coincided with the penultimate day of the tournament.
Large crowds gathered in the seaside town to enjoy the parade as it moved off at 8.30pm, finishing up at 10.45pm.
Local TUV councillor Allister Kyle was among those at the parade and praised its success.
"I was proud to be in Portrush on Saturday night, seeing the vast crowds, many of whom were in golf attire, clearly having attended The Open during the day and staying to enjoy the incredible musical spectacle in the evening,' he said.
"Once again, I congratulate Portrush Sons of Ulster, particularly their committee, for organising one of the most successful nights Portrush has seen in years.'
The parade was led by Ballykeel Loyal Sons of Ulster Flute Band.
The bandmaster, Robert Thompson earlier told the Coleraine Chronicle his band had no hesitation in supporting Portrush Sons of Ulster's decision to go ahead with the rally.
He said: 'It's an annual fixture and one of our favourite parades that is treated as a family day out.
'At the end of the day, it's Portrush's [Sons of Ulster] prerogative. Whatever they chose to do, we were backing them 100%.
'If they had chosen not to have held it, we would have backed them. But they chose to go ahead and asked us to have the privileged of leading it, and we jumped at the chance.'
The route took in Metropole Green, Sandhill Drive, Eglinton Street, Kerr Street, Upper Main Street, Main Street, Causeway Street, Victoria Street and Dunluce Avenue.
The Parades Commission application listed 83 bands taking part.
Bands taking part came from all over Northern Ireland including Dungannon, Belfast, Londonderry and Coleraine.
That makes it bigger than any single Twelfth parade.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of sports fans are in the area for The Open at the nearby Royal Portrush Golf Club, which concluded on Sunday,
The Open: International visitors share views on Portrush
The organising band was offered around £20,000 by organisers to postpone their parade — which they refused.
Outside the Station Bar today, Jeff McCusker said the band was 'definitely right to not accept the money'.
'The parade is every year on this date and if the golf organisers wanted to they could have reached out long before they did to the band,' he said.
Despite fears of traffic chaos those helping with the traffic flow in the town said while it was heavy at times they kept it moving around the town.
Some tourists in the area for The Open decided to stick around after the golf ended to watch the marchers.
Harn Huang who was visiting Portrush for The Open from South Africa with her mum and boyfriend said: 'We don't have anything like this. I'm here to see both the golf and the parade. It's very cool.'
But not all were even aware a parade was taking place including couple Luke Kelly and Mackenzie Brown from Phoenix, Arizona.
Mackenzie said: 'We're not aware of any band parade and can't stay unfortunately.
"I didn't know what to expect in Portrush (for The Open). It was breathtaking – the course and the cliffs and the water.'
Canadian tourist Jess Marks, who was at The Open with partner Tim Shaw from Germany, said they didn't know anything about the march but had heard there was 'an event that might cause a few problems at the train station with more people trying to leave'.
Earlier this week, Mark Darbon, chief executive of the Royal & Ancient (R&A), said there would be "marginal adjustments" of about 15 minutes to the golf tee-times to try to ensure both events can take place in a "seamless" way.
"We recognise that when we bring The Open Championship to town, we are a guest in the community in which we operate," he said.
"On many occasions, there are concurrent events that take place around the action that we are very focused on here, within the walls of the venue.
"So, recognising the events that are taking place on Saturday, we have worked really collaboratively with the organisers and across multi-agency groups to ensure, primarily, that both events can run as seamlessly as possible.