Speaking today, Phil Gawne MHK, Minister for the Department said: “ I am delighted to see this status being awarded by the European Commission, reflecting the unique quality of Isle of Man Queenies. The Isle of Man has traditionally had a very different approach to queen scallops to that seen elsewhere, concentrating efforts on producing the very best quality product that reflects the care we take from the net to the plate with this product. Unique is a word that is very much over-used in this day and age, but the awarding of PDO status confirms that, in this instance, Isle of Man Queenies really are unique, and not to be confused with lower quality product produced elsewhere. Our processors and fishermen should be genuinely proud of this achievement.”

Tim Croft, speaking on behalf of the Island?s processors added: “Manx fishermen and processors have made great efforts to ensure that we place only the best quality queenies on the market. These reflect the fact that we have a day fishery, for trawl caught queenies, that are suitable for hand processing and provide the highest meat yields. These queenies are larger than those landed elsewhere and, unlike many scallops available on international markets, have no added water. It is great that we will now be formally able to distinguish our products in the marketplace, and be able to reassure our growing customer base that they are buying the “genuine article.”

1. Full details of the award can be found here 

2. To be labelled as an ‘Isle of Man Queenie’ queenies must be:

Caught in a light, low impact trawl that does not damage the seabed or force any grit into the shell

Be landed day fresh into the Isle of Man

Be hand processed, within 24 hours of landing

Be roe on

Have no added water

3. The Isle of Man Queenie fishery is the only queenie fishery in the British Isles to be regulated. As well as seasonal closures and restrictions to conserve the stock, and the eco-system that supports it, the minimum landing size for queenies is the largest in Europe. 4. The Isle of Man Queenie trawl fishery was awarded Marine Stewardship Council accreditation in 2011, confirming that the fishery was managed sustainably. It was the first scallop fishery in European Waters to achieve this accreditation. 5. Isle of Man Queenies were winners of the Billingsgate Sustainable Seafood Awards in 2011.

The answers to the 2012 Golden Queenie Conundrum have been revealed.

For those wishing to see the full answers, please click on the links below:

Golden Queenie 2012 Part 1 – Answers

Golden Queenie 2012 Part 2 – Answers

Golden Queenie 2012 Part 3 – Answers

Thanks again for all your support during 2012!

David Brown and his wife Marilyn found the elusive shell buried beneath the sand at Peel beach after months of solving and searching for clues!

Answers to the the 2012 Golden Queen Conundrum will be released in 2013.

The Golden Queenie Conundrum was launched in Queenie Festival programmes on 2 June with 10 clues based on people, most of whom were connected to the sea. On solving the answers to the cryptic clues, treasure hunters must complete a grid similar to a crossword which will reveal an answer to be sent by text to the specified number which will then reveal further clues.

Tim Croft, Queenie Festival organiser commented, “On solving the initial conundrum grid and texting the answer, hunters receive a further clue which takes them to level two. Once this has been solved, the final clue, level three is revealed and this will give the actual location to the Golden Queenie!”

So far just one person has reached as far as level three and hot on their heels is well over twenty others now at level two!

For those treasure hunters on level 2 a further clue can be found here:

For those solving level 2, you feel you have cracked  the code

Remember we need a position,   to keep you on the road

So if you think you’ve answered correctly but getting no text reply

Make sure from nothing you know where you are , because that will tell you why.

Last year’s Golden Queenie Conundrum remained unsolved. Despite many people searching and attempting to solve the clues the Queenie Festival organisers took the decision to reveal the solution and relaunch a new Conundrum for 2012.

The Isle of Man Queenie Festival gets underway on the 29 June and promises a stunning musical line up over the whole weekend, with something for everyone.

On Friday, Port Erin beach will be transformed into an entertainment zone as the Sure Beach Party kicks of the festival from 6pm till late.

Samba Mann will bring their usual melodic summer beats to the beach to gets things moving and shaking. Next up is an acoustic set by Rory Malone, teenage singer song writer from New Zealand who is currently touring the UK. Things will then start to get a bit livelier with a performance of Mr Eliminator and the Deadly Vipers who will bring their high octane originals mixed with the underground classics of the 1960s to create a sound so cool it could kill you!

Local veterans Switch have reformed and will close the evening with an exciting and wide ranging set of covers including The Foo Fighters to Frattellis, from The Killers to Kooks and Kaisers, as well as The Arctic Monkeys and Muse, not forgetting Girls Aloud!!!

Saturday’s line up at the Marine Weekend is packed full of music with more bands than we could care to mention. Nigel Williams, Simon Campbell, Josh Dillon, Clara Barker, King Chiaulle and the Fecktones plus others will take to the two stages of the Port St Mary festival site.

Not forgetting the Ceilidh on the Quay taking place on Saturday evening from 7.30pm which will see a line-up featuring local favourites the Manx Calor Gas Band and duo Strengyn perform along with headlining act and Winners of ‘Best Live Act’ at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009, The Demon Barbers!

In addition there’s the Seafood Extravaganza on Saturday night, held in the quayside Marquee with the emphasis on fine food but still with cracking local band Skeet performing on the night, the evening looks positively mouth-watering!

Sunday has an equally enticing musical line up with more local talent taking to the stages for the final day of the festival. More musical highlights include Nick Barlow & The Bad Noise, The Mollag Band, Dicky Best and Tony Knowles, Hiccups and Matt Kelly and his non Facebook Friends plus many others!

As well as music the festival weekend has plenty for everyone including, food, arts and crafts, cooking demonstrations, marine touch tanks, fishing and boat trips and promises to be a great value weekend for all attending

Kayakers are being invited to dash for Mackerel this year in a unique event taking place at the Sure Beach Party as part of this year’s Isle of Man Queenie Festival.

The Sure Mackerel Dash involves Kayakers having to launch from the beach in Port Erin, out into the bay where they will fish for Mackerel. The winner will be the first person to return back to the beach with a rod caught Mackerel in excess of 30cm.

Tim Croft, Queenie Festival organiser commented, “Kayak fishing has seen the convergence of the two disciplines of fishing and Kayaking merge into a sport in its own right, which is one of the fastest growing in the UK. Kayak fishing is especially eco-friendly with very low impact on the environment. Mackerel is also a sustainable fish that is often overlooked by the consumer so we will be cooking up the caught Mackerel on the evening for the public to taste and sample.”

The eventual winner will receive prize money of £100 plus the Sure Mobile Trophy and there will be additional prizes available on the evening.

Entries are open to anyone over the age of 18, registration takes place at 6pm on the evening of 29 June at the bottom of the slipway on Port Erin beach and the cost to enter will be £10. Entry Form and Rules can be found here.

We are very pleased to announce that Isle of Man Queenie Festival Programmes are now on sale in selected newsagents island wide.

The programme has a whole heap of information about the festival weekend including a full intenerary for the Sure Mobile Beach Party on Friday 29 June in Port Erin and the very popular Marine Weekend that takes place in Port St Mary over 30 June and 1 July.

The programme also contains the highly sought after clues that will reveal the location of the Golden Queenie! So all you treasure hunters pick up a copy at newsagents or head for Island Seafare in Port St Mary where Tim Croft, Festival organiser has a stash. They are very reasonably priced at just £1.

We hope you will buy one and head down south for what promises to be a great a weekend!

Organisers of the Isle of Man Queenie Festival 2012 have revealed that the prized Golden Queenie has not been found from last year’s Golden Queenie Conundrum and have therefore stated that it’s rollover!

When clues for the 2011 Golden Queenie Conundrum were released last June many intrepid treasure hunters set out to find the golden treasure. After several weeks of searching and trying to solve the clues they all drew a blank. Many of then took to the Queenie Festival website and Facebook page in order to exchange clues, tips and collaborate together in the hope of finding the elusive golden shell worth approx £4,000 in retail value, but to no avail!

Long into 2012 the most dedicated hunters were still active in their search and now at the end of May it seems like the 2011 conundrum was just too tough!

Tim Croft Queenie Festival organiser commented, “In the past the Golden Queenie Conundrum has generated a huge following and the 2011 one seemed to be the most sought after yet.  In previous years our cryptic clue master had been outwitted by keen local treasure hunters using vast amounts of local knowledge that had solved and unearthed the buried treasure in record time. This time around the clues set were exceptionally tough, but we didn’t think unsolvable. Unfortunately nobody was lucky enough to locate it, although I think a few came very near!”

As a result of Conundrum remaining unsolved Queenie Festival organisers have therefore released the answers to the 2011 Golden Queenie Conundrum and have confirmed that a new Conundrum will be launched as part of the 2012 festival with clues available in Queenie Festival programmes on sale in newsagents and shops, island wide from 2^nd June!

Answers to the 2011 Golden Queenie Conundrum:

1             Spirits form in a distillery, Established in 1827 the sign outside the distillery is now gone but the date is on each bottle of Manx Spirit therefore established and contained within.

2             A glazed viewpoint nearby is the vitrified fortress on Cronk Summark or Primrose Hill. It is one of the few examples of a vitrified fortress.

3             The previous clue and the next three line up in a straight line. Cross over the Baltic Road a small lane that runs SE from Kirk Michael to Cabbal Pherick or St Patricks Chapel or Spooyt Vane Keeill. It is written that the priest cobbled his shoes not realizing that it was Sunday morning and when his parishioners arrived for the service he rushed in haste and slipped into the stream and drowned.

4             Next in line is the Devil’s Elbow or Nicky’s ‘Bow, it was the No 9 milestone on the old St John’s TT course.

5             And straight on again brings you to Peel Harbour, Nearby a place to feed, the café on Peel Breakwater is Sir William Hillary’s gift, the Lifeboat station, where the bell tolls, Alexander Graham Bell in fact. That is the phone box which is for emergency call only for those in need, and you can only call 999 from it.

6             8 bells toll in St Germans Cathedral. Noo Carmane is the old name for St Germane and the bells ring for him on the 13^th July.

7             Over the valley on Peel Hill is St Patricks Well or Chibbyr Noo Pherick  St Patrick was keen to rid Mann of the old folklore and religions and it is said that when he struck the ground with his staff, a spring rose from the ground and that the water was poisonous to fairies.

8             Once more a straight line links the next points, From Peel Hill fly straight to where Sir William Oates preached, St Runius’ church at Marown where stylish gravestone by Archibald Knox marks the grave of Margaret Lace, daughter of John Clucas, who died aged 97

9             Head in a straight line to the Steam Packet Terminal where it is dry but steamy! Inside the Pillar Box is number 261.

10          Embarr the white horse of Manannan would be expected to be in the God’s lair or castle on South Barrule, 1585 ft above sea level and on the trig point at the summit the number cast in bronze is S5387

11          From South Barrule the end of the journey is clearly visible and a straight line connect the next points, flying on wings so straight, to the MAPS project (Manx Aviation Preservation Society) and the MAMM or Manx Aviation and Military Museum.

12          Carrying on the straight line, Tobacco Gullet is near Langness Lighthouse which flashes 240 times in an hour.

13          Again another straight line links the final clues. Vulcan is the God of Fire and Scarlett Point is an extinct Volcano so named after Vulcan.

14          If you carry the line, it ends at the boat park in front of the IOM Yacht Club, Port St Mary, where on a lamp stand that is where a lamp shines from above onto the land so dry, you would have found a phone number to text the code to which would have revealed the location of the Golden Shell.

Here is the completed grid with answers

With just under 40 days until this year’s Isle of Man Queenie Festival, organisers have announced a new event taking place on Saturday 30 June.

Alfred Pier in Port St Mary will host the ‘Ceilidh on the Quay’ which will see a line-up featuring local favourites the Manx Calor Gas Band and duo Strengyn perform along with headlining act and Winners of ‘Best Live Act’ at BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009, The Demon Barbers!

Over the last nine years The Demon Barbers have gained major recognition for their original and imaginative approach to traditional music and song. They take mainly traditional ballads, strange tales of myth and magic and coil them, twist them, make them stranger, darker, becoming tales of Gothic danger; they don’t so much make folk rock as make traditional tales quiver and pulse with electricity.

The Ceilidh on the Quay is a new feature of this year’s Isle of Man Queenie Festival and promises to be yet another great addition to the weekend’s entertainment. Tim Croft, Isle of Man Queenie Festival organiser commented on the event saying, “We wanted to keep the spirit of the festival going throughout the evening within the village of Port St Mary and felt that a traditional Ceilidh was the perfect event in which to do this. We have two fantastic local acts to get things going, followed by a real treat in The Demon Barbers. When they play they put on a fantastic energetic performance that will no doubt have the whole audience dancing along, it’s going to be a cracking night.”

The ‘Ceilidh on the Quay’ gets underway at 7pm until 11.30pm on Saturday 30 June. Numbers are strictly limited, so people are advised to get tickets early to avoid disappointment. Tickets are affordably priced at only £10 and are available from Peter Norris Music in Douglas, Celtic Gold in Peel, Thompson Travel in Port Erin and Tim Croft at Island Seafare, Port St Mary.

As well as live music there will of course be a bar and a selection of hot food available. At the end of the night, buses will be leaving from Albert Pier, going to Douglas and Peel via Port Erin, Colby and Castletown. For more information on The Ceilidh on the Quay or to buy tickets call Tim Croft on 834494.

For seafood lovers, the hottest up and coming ticket in town is The Seafood Extravaganza, a night of fine dining and live music taking place during Port St Mary’s annual Queenie Festival. On Saturday 30 June, Port St Mary’s quayside will be transformed for the night by a grand marquee, where diners will be able to enjoy a delicious seafood feast prepared by top visiting chefs, followed by live music from popular band Skeet.

Queenies will of course feature on the menu which are prized for their subtle texture and flavour, and are increasingly finding their way onto the menus of celebrated restaurants in the UK. Once again, The Queenie Festival has invited a number of celebrated chefs – including Simon Wadham, Head Chef at London’s Rivington, Dave McCarthy, Head Chef of London’s Scotts, Pascal Proyart, Head Chef of London’s One o One, Marcus Verberne, Head Chef of London’s Roast and Mat Follas of The Wild Garlic in Dorset. Guests at the Seafood Extravaganza can enjoy a special chance to taste the fruits of their labour – along with those of popular local chefs, amongst the sumptuous fare on offer during the evening. All of these chef’s will be giving cooking demonstrations in the quayside food theatre over the festival weekend.

Guests at the event will receive champagne and a selection of delicate canapés upon arrival, followed by a fabulous seafood feast, dessert, cheeseboard and coffee and mints. Dancing shoes are advised for the second half of the evening when local band Skeet will take to the stage to perform a rousing set of non-stop popular covers spanning the ages. As well as wine lists to accompany dinner, there will be a bar open throughout the night.

Tickets for the event, which runs from 7pm till 11.45pm, are £50.00 per person, with seating on tables of ten; corporate tables can be easily arranged. Places are strictly limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis – call Tim Croft on 834494 or 495930 to reserve your place or table.