Portrush - Events

Events

• Portrush hosts an annual air show at the beginning of September.
• The RNLI raft race is a popular annual event. This is a popular competition where contestants must build a raft that can travel from the West Strand beach into Portrush Harbour. The contest has been featured on Northern Ireland news broadcasts on several years. The event is a great credit to the RNLI's popularity in the area.
• The annual "Beach Party" attracts headline acts; the first, held in 2006 was headlined by Fatboy Slim. 2007 saw Basement Jaxx and Happy Mondays. 2008 was headlined by The Chemical Brothers. The Beach Party is not occurring in 2009, and it is yet to be seen whether it will return to Portrush.
• Portrush hosts an annual chilli cookoff with representatives from each of the adjacent towns. This began on June 3rd 1998 and remains a well anticipated tradition. Portrush have never themselves won the cook off, instead they have been bested each year by their rival town Dunloy
• The North West 200 is a motorcycle race which runs through Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush every May, a long-running tourist attraction which has attracted crowds in excess of 150,000 in past years. The late brothers Joey Dunlop and Robert Dunlop have been regular winners at the races: they hold the record for most wins, with thirteen and fifteen respectively.