A youth festival organised by Christians is to take place in July.
Firestarter is returning for 2014 after the success of last year’s event. Eighty tickets are available for this year’s four-day long party.
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 mixture of fun stuff to do, including kayaking, hiking, talent shows, huge water fights, and other games and entertainment.
This year it will be running from July 21 to 24, 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 said: ‘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 organisers say they ‘otherwise offer a huge degree of freedom to the youth that attend’.
Festival coordinator Graeme Brooks said: ‘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.