A new festival, ‘Field Exchange’, which is bringing farmers, artists, food producers, agri-experts and the wider community together, was launched at Brookfield Farm, Co. Tipperary.
Field Exchange festival, which is part of a wider two-year project on creative agriculture, climate and biodiversity, will be held on the Brookfield shores of Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary, on Saturday, August 31 and Sunday, September 1 from 12:00p.m to 5:00p.m each day.
Field Exchange 2024 showcases transformative art intertwining with agriculture with a new opening by renowned artists Ackroyd & Harvey on the Saturday at 6:00p.m.
The exhibition will feature portraits of Tipperary farmers and a tree made from a living grass canvas and will be followed by a celebratory dinner.
Field Exchange festival brings diverse communities including farmers, foresters, artists, craft workers, food producers and local people together to learn and share knowledge on organic and sustainable agriculture practices, convened by RTÉ’s Ella McSweeney.
Taking place on Brookfield Farm, an award-winning organic farm and a conservation area for the native Irish honey bee, the festival is the brainchild of the farmer, beekeeper and teacher who runs Brookfield Farm, Ailbhe Gerrard.
Ailbhe presented a pilot version of the Field Exchange Festival in 2022, with more than 500 participants, including Sabina Higgins, wife of president of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media of Ireland Catherine Martin.
On the back of the success of the 2022 festival, Ailbhe secured funding for a two-year project, also called Field Exchange, on creative agriculture and climate.
The wider project is structured around the two annual festivals and includes a series of one-day workshops, discussions and hands-on activities building a community of farmers to integrate the vision and creativity of artists into sustainable farming practices and habitat enhancement.
The festival will include agroforestry demonstrations; craft workshops; panel discussions; farm walks; guest speakers; visual arts; music performances; crafts; local food and site-specific art works.
Field Exchange is partnering with the Irish Agroforestry Ireland Forum (IAF) and the Dry Stone Wall Association of Ireland (DSWAI) as well as internationally renowned artists Ackroyd & Harvey along with designers Elements of Action.
The festival will also feature a debut performance from The Company of Trees, a new music and spoken word performance by Michael James Ford and Philip Dodd and performed by Susannah De Wrixon, Michael James Ford, Kyle Hixon and the Delamaine string quartet.
Project promoter Ailbhe Gerrard, an An Taisce climate ambassador and a Farming for Nature ambassador, said that Field Exchange is bringing creativity back into agriculture:
“We engage vision, knowledge and practical action in our communities to come together to solve our urgent challenges in agriculture, biodiversity and climate. It’s a rethinking of the agriculture system.
“The festivals in 2024 and 2025 are designed to provide a transformative learning experience for farmers, food producers, artists, specialists, and the wider community.
“We hope to stimulate the imagination and attendees with practical tools to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss while exploring intersections of agriculture and creativity.”
“These gatherings go beyond traditional agricultural events, offering a space where creativity sparks innovative solutions, meaningful connections are nurtured, and a shared vision for a sustainable future takes root. It’s about looking to the future,” she added.
Field Exchange is one of 43 creative Climate Action Fund projects taking place across the country.
The projects work with communities using creativity to envision a better future and empower people to make real changes about how they interact with the environment.
Tickets for Field Exchange can be booked on the Brookfield Farm website.
Field Exchange benefits from the Creative Climate Action fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland programme. It is funded by the department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in Collaboration with the Department of the Taoiseach.