With just over seven weeks to go to the start of the Ballinasloe October Fair 2010, the committee are pleased to announce that for a third year running the Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe will be coming onboard as the key sponsor of the nine day event. Since the opening of the major hotel in Ballinasloe, the Carlton Hotel Group and their management have been behind the fair one hundred percent.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be associated once again with the Ballinasloe International Horse Fair and Festival. This event is a major boost to the town of Ballinasloe and its hinterland and we in the Carlton Hotel are proud of our association with Europe’s Oldest Horse Fair,” says Jacinta Naughton, general manager of the Carlton Shearwater Hotel.
Jacinta continued “We are delighted to be the sponsor of the Carlton Shearwater Hotel Queen of the Fair who will be selected on Thursday September 23 and we encourage as many girls as possible to get out there and represent your community and be an ambassador for their town.”
With no direct source of income from tickets or gate receipts, the Ballinasloe Horse Fair is heavily dependent on local sponsorship to meet its costs which have been increasing steadily in recent years. Last year’s event brought 85,000 attendees to the nine day event and is worth in excess of €8 million to the local economy.
Highlights of this year’s Horse Fair which runs from Saturday October 2 to 10 include the Ballinasloe Credit Union Horse of the Fair Competition held in the Fair Green on Sunday October 3 and the competition for Pony of the Fair on Monday October 4. This year, qualifiers will be held at various centres across the country to ensure a high quality horse, pony, and cob competition is kept in place on the Fair Green.
Popular non equine events during the nine day festival include the Gullanes Hotel Carnival Parade on Saturday October 2, Domac Plant Hire Tug of War Competition from Tuesday October 5 to Friday October 8, Supermacs La Gaelach and Country Fair Day on Saturday October 9, Premier Proteins Dog Show and the Vintage Parade on Sunday October 10.
