The Channel Islands Heritage Festival will return for its third year with a ‘Heroes, Myths and Legends’ theme between 8 April and 10 May 2017.
In celebration of the colourful history of this small group of islands in the English Channel, the Channel Islands Heritage Festival will feature family-friendly adventures, guided walks, exclusive openings of historical monuments, and themed tours on Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Sark. This year, the events will explore the heroes, myths and legends that have defined the islands’ enchanting status and drawn visitors to their shores for centuries.
Highlights of the festival include a geocaching trail across the Channel Islands, coasteering to Guernsey’s legendary Creux Mahie Cave, and ghost walks of the islands’ oldest buildings, fortifications and castles. From tales of early seafarers to heroic accounts from the German Occupation during World War II, the festival programme will highlight the fascinating history, diverse landscapes and individual characteristics of the islands.
Key events at the Channel Islands Heritage Festival in Guernsey include:
GEOCACHING HEROES, MYTHS AND LEGENDS TRAILS
From 8 April – all islands
Billed as the world’s largest treasure hunt, visitors are encouraged to explore, find and log geocaches (containers) across the Channel Islands in a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices (such as a smart phone). The hunt is designed to highlight the islands’ diversity, encompassing such a wide variation of cache size, types, terrain and difficulty. Currently holding almost 900 caches across the five islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm, the hunt will take visitors along cliff paths, through green country lanes, into woods, across sandy beaches and even to caches out at sea. Once a cache is found, hunters can sign their name in the log book, and then share their stories and photos online.
COASTEERING AT THE CREUX MAHIE CAVE
9 and 29 April, 11.00 – 14.00 – Guernsey
Adventure specialist, Outdoor Guernsey, is offering an exclusive opportunity to coasteer to Guernsey’s Creux Mahie cave and explore Le Long Cavaleur – a narrow coupée that is gradually being eroded away, resulting in a hole through the headland along a fault line. Myth has it that the cave was a famous gathering point for witches whose cauldron fires blackened the caves with soot and ash. Coasteering is an adventure activity that allows thrill seekers to experience the exhilaration of sea level traversing, rock scrambling, jumping, and swimming in gullies and caves. Participants are kitted out in wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets to explore the island’s spectacular rocky coastline. The excursion is £37.50 per person.
JERSEY’S MYTHS AND LEGENDS
10 April to 6 May, 10.00 – 22.00 – Jersey
Specially curated for the 2017 Channel Islands Heritage Festival, this exhibition will explore Jersey’s affinity with folklore, and the stories that have evolved from it. The exhibition takes place in the Berni Gallery at Jersey Arts Centre in the capital St Helier and will include a stamp issued from Jersey Post as illustrated by local artist Nick Parlett, as well as items from public and private collections. Entrance is free.
ALDERNEY FORT CHALLENGE WEEK
From 12 April – Alderney
Individuals or groups of friends and family are challenged to visit all of Alderney’s historic forts in one week. The third largest channel island boasts a formidable array of ramparts in the eighteen forts and batteries present on almost every headland, designed to defend the island from enemy ships. The Island Challenge packs will be available from the Visitor Information Centre in Alderney’s only town of St Anne from 12 April, which will highlight the tasks involved.
KAYAKING FROM CREUX HARBOUR TO THE COPPER MINE IN LITTLE SARK
16 April and 5 May, 11.30 – 14.30 – Sark
Adventure Sark is offering a kayaking tour to explore its copper mine, discovered just eighteen months ago along the coastline of Little Sark, which joins Sark’s mainland by a narrow ridge. Kayaking around Sark offers a uniquely remote and magical experience, passing a fabulous wealth of sea and bird life. The excursion is £35 per person.
GHOST TALES AND MONK MYSTERIES OF HERM – WALK AND DINNER
27 April, 19.00 sailing from Guernsey to Herm, returning at 22.45 – Guernsey and Herm
This guided evening walk around Herm Island will reveal tales of ghostly encounters and legends of monks and burials. Following the walk, a two course buffet dinner will be served in the Ship Inn. Herm Island is a 20 minute ferry from St Peter Port in Guernsey. The tour is £29 per person, which includes the walk, a signed book and return ferry ticket.
A full list of events and activities, will be available at www.visitchannelislands.com/heritagefestival
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