We may not have even got as far as the Summer Transport Festival on the Isle of Man (27th to 31st July in case you need reminding) but attention is already turning to 2023 when the Summer Festival will be lengthened to a full week and there will also be an additional event in September as the island celebrates the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Douglas to Peel railway line and the 130th anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway.
The Summer Transport Festival will run from Sunday 23rd until Sunday 30th July and the extra three days for the event will allow even more heritage transport fun to be had by all. Whilst its still too early to give a lot of details, Isle of Man Transport have announced that the following will be happening:
- Steam loco Caledonia on tour
- Isle of Man Steam Railway Cavalcade
- Steam on the Manx Electric Railway returns!
- Family Fayre Days
- Workshop Tours
- Motorman Taster Sessions
- Photography Specials
- Special events on the Douglas Bay Horse Tramway
- Plus many other surprises!
And if that wasn’t enough for you, Sunday 10th September will see a further special event to help celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Manx Electric Railway. Although the official anniversary will be on 7th September its been decided to celebrate the occasion on the Sunday to allow as many as possible to join in the celebrations.
With the Isle of Man Steam Railway line from Douglas to Peel celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2023, there will also be a special day of events on Saturday 1st July (it was Thursday 1st July 1873 that services began). This will include a special timetable with some very special guests joining in whilst Port Erin station will have a vintage fayre and there will be an exhibition in the museum too.
This is all to come in 2023 – that’s next year, so don’t get too excited just yet but there is definitely something here to look forward to in 12 months time!