The festival now entering its eighteenth year, expects to welcome over 100,000 visitors over the course of five days filled with fun, food, and events on sustainable living.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s event, Jim O’Toole, CEO, Bord Bia said: “We are immensely proud of how Bord Bia Bloom has developed as a unique festival experience. Bloom was originally founded to provide a premier platform for showcasing Irish horticulture, food, and drink and we have succeeded in delivering on this vision.”
The bustling Food Village will feature almost 100 of Ireland’s leading Irish food and drink companies along with a host of foodie features, including Wexford’s Naturally Cordial (Ballinavary), Greenhill Fruit Farm (Ballinavary), O’Neill’s Foods (Enniscorthy), Killowen Farm (Enniscorthy), Wexford Home Preserves (New Ross), Kilmurray Nursery (Ballymoney), Irish Fuschia Nursery (Monamolin) and Stafford Irish Spirits (Tomnalossett).
Pauline Dunne from Killowen farm is looking forward to continuing tradition at this year’s festival saying “we have attended Bloom every year since the very first year, bar Covid-19.”
The sustainability aspect to the exhibition is incredibly important for the brand who are gold members of Origin Green, a national food and drink sustainability programme, and whose farm-produced milk is used directly for the manufacture of their yoghurts.
Every year the business tries to further incorporate sustainability into everything they do. Their goal for 2024 was to make a big investment in solar panels, which were installed and have been live since the beginning of this year.
The festival also provides businesses with the opportunity to network and communicate with their peers, buyers and customers in an informal setting. Clodagh Davis from Naturally Cordial said: “Once they try our cordials at Bloom, many people seek them out in Dunnes, SuperValu and other quality food stores so we always look for an uplift in sales after a big event like Bloom.”
On the horticultural end, there will be a total of 22 small, medium and large show gardens and feature gardens that will reflect colourful examples of the most recent trends in garden design, with ‘environmentally conscious gardens’ being a returning theme this year.
There is also a lively Nursery Village featuring some of Ireland’s leading nurseries, floral displays from the Ireland’s finest floral artists and a botanical art exhibition. Irish Fuchsia Nursery from Gorey will be showcased here.
On the Sustainable Living Stage, 40 insightful talks will take place throughout Bloom which will tackle issues such as food waste, plastic pollution, the importance of pollinators, while sharing sustainable food solutions, tips for home energy saving, and natural skincare hacks. A series of expert panel discussions will be hosted by broadcaster Suzanne Campbell.
Tickets are on sale and priced at €30. Up to two children aged 12 and under go free with every adult ticket, and more information can be found on the official website.
Laura Douglas, Head of Bord Bia Brand Partnership said: “A ticket to Bloom promises a great day out whether coming with friends, a partner or family. With our beautiful show gardens, live entertainment, fantastic selection of food and drink and five stages packed with demos, there is simply no other festival like Bloom in Ireland!”
