A floral festival with a stellar line-up …
Horti-culturalists (the new name given to those who travel to garden-related events) will be hot-footing it to the second year of this festival, founded by Minnie Preston and garden designer Catherine FitzGerald, on May 3-4 for a celebration of creativity and sustainability in the natural world.
Following last year’s success, the events programme boasts a diverse range of workshops and talks set against the beautiful backdrop of Ballintubbert House.
WHO: The line-up of guest speakers is brimming with pioneering gardeners and designers, nature writers, and activists from home and abroad. Guest speakers include Diarmuid Gavin, Sean Pritchard, Rory O’Connell, Darina Allen, Tom Stuart-Smith, Sean Ronayne, Fergus Garrett, Dominic West, Giuliana Furci, Jamie Walton (aka Nettles & Petals), Merlin Sheldrake, Kitty Scully, Andrea Brunsendorf, Charlie Harpur, Thomas Pakenham, Neil Porteous, Nigel Slater and Niall Williams.
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NEW-IN: A new element of the festivities this year is the How To stage where participants can engage in practical demonstrations and hands-on learning experiences. Guests can also join ornithologist Sean Ronayne for a spring-time dawn chorus walk, after a bowl of locally grown porridge oats.
LEARN: Add some more gardening feathers to your bow and learn about a variety of exciting topics such as a cook’s relationship with the garden, a journey into bio-diverse habitats, trees for the future, pioneering nature-friendly farming, how to design a naturalistic border, gardening as a rewarding professional career, wilding the garden, the world of fungi, an organic sustainable landscape in the Duero valley in Spain, and the creative joy of bringing the outside in.
WHAT ELSE: The festival will also showcase artisanal food vendors, organic coffee and locally made cider. Soak up the festival atmosphere while browsing carefully curated plant stalls and garden antiques from vendors such as Howbert and Mays book sellers and Abito workwear. Enjoy music from actor and musician Johnny Flynn in the evening.
Need to know: Saturday ticket €110, Sunday ticket €70, full weekend ticket €165. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit; www.festivalofgardensandnature.com