#corkharbour – All sorts of fun will be available at Ireland's first national maritime festival, SeaFest 2015, from hurricane wind simulators, modern day warship tours, shellfish cookery demonstrations, a fish market, ship simulators, sailboats and ferries in Cork Harbour and a RNLI duck race!

SeaFest 2015 promises to be a fun filled family affair celebrating Ireland's incredible ocean wealth while showcasing our abundant maritime resources. Taking place in Ringaskiddy, Haulbowline and finishing up in the Port of Cork on Saturday 11 July 2015, this festival will provide incredible line-up of free entertainment, music and activities for all the family.

At SeaFest you can experience what it's like to be a captain on the high seas in the state-of-the-art simulator, take a tour of a modern day warship in Haulbowline, or be blown away by hurricane force winds in the Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) Beaufort Scale Hurricane Experience. The SeaFest line-up has it all – from boating trips, yacht sailing, open water swimming, marine simulators, tours of Irish Navy ships, rescue demonstrations, sea life exhibits, educational screenings and talks, to a food village with live seafood cookery talks and demonstrations.

As part of SeaFest, a 'parade of sail' including yachts and boats will sail from Ringaskiddy to the Port of Cork marina in the city centre at 4pm. The parade of sail will follow behind the last of the 500 swimmers of The Vibes & Scribes Lee Swim and further celebrations will continue in The Port of Cork from 5-8pm with live music, street performers and food market, face painting & balloon modelling and tours of a naval ship.

"As an island nation, it is so important to recognise and celebrate the incredible resources of Ireland's abundant and surrounding seas," said Minister Simon Coveney, T.D. "This two day festival will travel Ireland, taking place in Cork in 2015 and with plans already underway to bring SeaFest to Galway in 2016. It is a national festival at which we can share our seafaring heritage and future, enjoy a myriad of water sports and activities, have fun while learning about the sea and the opportunities it presents, and feast on some of the world's best seafood. I am hugely excited about this national festival, SeaFest, and look forward to it becoming one of Ireland's leading festivals in the coming years."

Ireland's two greatest natural resources – our vast undersea territory and our young people – will come together in Ringaskiddy as part of the Explorers Marine Life Education Exhibit. The exhibit is a collaboration between the Lifetime Lab and the Marine Institute's Explorers Programme and will give children a hands-on marine experience where they will learn about and see creatures like the seahorse, starfish, and even whale bones! They will also discover the real map of Ireland, which extends out across the Atlantic Ocean.

Cookery demonstrations, workshops on how to cook and eat prawns, lobsters, mussels and oysters among other seafood will be hosted by the seafood development agency, BIM and Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, with renowned seafood chefs Martin Shanahan and Rory O'Connell. As well as leading Irish chefs showing people just how easy, quick and healthy it is to enjoy fresh fish from our oceans, there will also be fishmongery demonstrations and a large fish market, as well as a 'Tales from the Deep' movie screening which gives an exclusive glimpse into the life of an Irish fisherman.

In Haulbowline the Irish Naval Service will be on hand to provide tours of a modern day warship! Come and meet the men and women of the Irish Defence Forces and discover what life is like on the high sea and learn about the latest in modern seafaring technology on board this new ship.

More than 2,000 ducks in lifeboats will race in Cork Harbour as part of the RNLI Duck Race. The RNLI are the nominated charity for the event and the race will help raise funds for the charity, which provides rescue services all around the Irish coast and saves hundreds of lives at sea each year.

The National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) will be sharing their facilities, normally used to train for a career as a maritime professional, with the public at SeaFest. Festival goers can experience various ship models in national and international waters in a variety of weather conditions via the simulators; these simulation exercises show the skills required when working at sea. Visitors to the festival will also be able to visit UCC's new Beaufort Building. This state of the art €15 million building will house the LIR National Ocean Test Facility and the SFI MaREI centre which is a cluster of key university and industrial partners dedicated to solving the main scientific, technical, social and economic challenges related to marine renewable energy.