Get your tickets now for the premier northern event for divers! After the success of the Great Northern Dive Show’s inaugural outing last year, the team is bringing the event back to Event City in Manchester on 8-9 April 2017.
The centrepiece of the weekend show will again be the world’s largest portable dive tank, in which visitors can watch experts showing off their dive skills, or maybe be entranced by the resident mermaids! There will also be a ‘beach’ to keep the younger members occupied, where after a beach clean-up, there will be a treasure hunt for shark’s teeth, and a fashion show featuring the coolest divewear. Let’s not even mention mini ponies, Comic-Con characters, stilt-walking crabs and octopus, dinosaurs and even the odd Imperial Stormtrooper…
There will be a smorgasbord of speakers at the show, including Mark Powell, John Kendall, Garry Dallas, and Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown, plus demonstrations, activities and a whole host of exhibitors, featuring manufacturers, tour operators, training agencies, conservation groups, dive centres and clubs.
Tickets are £8 in advance if bought online (www.theticketfactory.com or www.eventbrite.co.uk) or £10 on the door for adults or just £5 for kids. Parking for visitors is free.
www.thegreatnortherndiveshow.com
Ruth Mort was the founder of The Great Northern Dive Show, and Scuba Diver caught up with her to get the inside-scoop on this blossoming event.
Q: What was the aim of the TGNDS?
Ruth: We wanted to get non-divers, divers, manufacturers, all agencies, dive shops, holiday companies and clubs under one roof to share their passion, skill and knowledge, to show all the different elements this sport offers from health, activity, conservation, training and holidays that are available once you become a diver.
Only one percent of the human population is actually classed as a scuba diver, plus this is the only sport that really brings able-bodied and disabled people together, all expectations from its participants are the same, and we only have one label – ‘diver’.
Q: How did you set out to make it different?
Ruth: I wanted this to be a showstopper, from the moment the doors opened to the very last minute they close, I wanted people to see something outrageous, fun, interactive, exciting and loud. I want them to come and want to stay for the day.
As well as giving people an opportunity to see how they could change their lives forever by realising the openings that are available when you are part of this sport; from living and working abroad, to who knows, maybe one day finding a cure in the ocean for some horrible disease like dementia, or something like that. I know it sounds like a pipe dream, but who is to say it won’t happen? Of course, I wanted to share my love of scuba diving with my family, friends and dive buddies!
Q: What would you like to see happen with the event in the future?
Ruth: I would like to see more manufacturers get behind this show and support the dive shops, existing divers and newbies. I would love celebrities or sportsmen/women to be part of the awareness that is needed in the public domain, perhaps get some advertising from some sports manufacturers/products/drinks so we can inject some more money into it, to highlight the benefits of being active at all ages and truly aware of our environment.
Q: Why should people attend the TGNDS?
Ruth: They should come and experience the activities, be part of the treasure hunt, the mermaid show, the dinosaur, the Stormtroopers, the fashion show, the talks, the availability of kit. They need to experience the awesomeness of something so different, that they will talk about what happened to them for the rest of their lives – perhaps they may event realise they can be something special and live up to their true potential if they join us!
