Bord Bia’s Bloom garden festival in Dublin attracted more than 100,000 visitors this year and continues to provide an important showcase for food, drink and horticulture producers from across the country, according to the food board’s chief executive.
Jim O’Toole said, thanks in part to the warm, sunny weather, it was a very successful five-day event over the June Bank Holiday weekend.
“Bloom provides an important commercial opportunity for Bord Bia’s client companies. We work with Ireland’s leading garden designers, nurseries and horticulture businesses, and more than 100 food and drink producers, who are at Bloom to showcase their work, products and services.
“Their focus is not just to impress the public on site, but also fill their order books for the year ahead. This event has become an integral part of the summer calendar for consumers and businesses alike, and that is something Bord Bia is very proud of,” O’Toole added.
Improving air quality, tackling food waste and highlighting how children benefit from outdoor play in the natural world are among some of the key themes of this year’s festival.
According to O’Toole, although Bord Bia Bloom was created to offer an “engaging showcase” for Irish horticulture, food and drink it has also evolved into a unique festival experience, with nature and sustainable living at its heart.
This year 22 small, medium, and large show gardens and feature gardens were at the heart of the event.
Oliver and Liat Schurmann from Mount Venus Nursery in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains won the gold medal award for the best large garden for their imaginative woodland garden for children under five.
The Citroen Power of One garden designed by Nicola Haines won best medium garden while the Forest Balcony, designed by Kathryn Feeley, won best small garden.
Teagasc was one of the 760 exhibitors who took part in Bloom this year and according to Dermot Callaghan, head of Teagasc Horticulture Development Department, the festival provided an opportunity to highlight its work.
“The importance of the horticulture sector in terms of fruit, vegetable and plant production has never been more in focus.
“Our theme ‘Planting Knowledge, Cultivating growth’ encapsulates the range of research, advisory and education services Teagasc provides related to horticulture and the wider crop and plant based sectors,” Callagahan added.