The Island’s only youth festival, Firestarter, is returning for 2014 after the massive success of last year’s event. Eighty tickets are available for this year’s four-day long party, and they are expected to sell quickly.
 
Firestarter is a four-day camp based at Ardwhallan Outdoor Education Centre, aimed at teenagers between the ages of 12 and 16. Volunteers from the Island’s Christian churches have been running Firestarter since 1997, and it offers a wild mixture of fun stuff to do, including kayaking, hiking, talent shows, huge water fights, and a load of other games and entertainment.
 
This year it will be running from Monday the 21st to Thursday the 24th of July, the first week of the summer holidays. Tickets cost ?65 all-inclusive, but concessions are available for multi-child families and those who are unable to afford the full price.
 
Festival Manager Tommy Harrison raved about the event: “Everyone had a great time last year, both the staff and the youth. We expect more of the same this year, plus we have a few surprises up our sleeve that we think everyone will enjoy.”
 
The camp offers 24-hour security and has a strict zero-tolerance policy on drugs, sex and alcohol, but otherwise offers a huge degree of freedom to the youth that attend. Festival Coordinator Graeme Brooks explained: “There’s no bed time, no getting up time, no compulsory activities and no pressure to talk about God stuff if you don’t want to. The youth get from Firestarter get whatever they want to get from it; we’re just here to ensure there’s plenty of choices of things to keep them occupied!”
 
Tickets and more information are available at www.firestarterfestival.com, and competitions to win free tickets are running on the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/firestarterfestival.
 
Photo - After the water-war at Firestarter 2013