Bulletin - Vol 8 No. 4 July/August 2005

International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend 2005
Saturday 20 & Sunday 21 August 2005

Join the fun and help to raise the public profile of our lighthouses. Many lighthouses and places of associated interest will be open to the public, and there will be special events at lighthouses all around the world.

Over the past 7 years, International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW) has grown to over 370 lighthouses in some 51 countries around the world participating in the event. The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August and it now coincides on the Sunday with International Lighthouse Day.

The lighthouses are "activated" by amateur radio operators, and the basic objective of the event is to promote public awareness of lighthouses and lightships and their need for preservation and restoration, to promote amateur radio. Hams set up their gear in or next to a lighthouse / lightship, and make contact with other lighthouses. The public is invited to participate, to learn about radio and the importance of lighthouses and their preservation.

Special activities have been organised at a few lighthouses around the country. Cape Otway Lightstation has organised a festival of events, and LoA Inc Committee member Ian Clifford hopes to relight both the Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse and the Point Perpendicular Lighthouses in New South Wales over the weekend.

The list of Australian lighthouses confirmed as participating in this year's ILLW are as follows:

Special lighthouse activities around Australia for ILLW

• Cape Otway, Victoria
• Wollongong Breakwater & Point Perpendicular, NSW

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