Clare Garden Festival wants to inspire everyone to grow their own food all year around by extending the season of growing vegetables in our garden. The popular festival returns for the 11th year to Ennis Showgrounds as usual on the last Sunday in April, the 27th of April this year. The festival will be back with an impressive range of garden experts – to be announced shortly – speaking on its main stage all day, supported by demonstrations in several areas all over the grounds.
As usual, there will be music, food, and children’s entertainment. Of course, the festival’s popular Garden, Plant, Craft & Food Fair will feature over 75 stalls from all over Ireland.
Speaking at the festival launch, Healthy Clare Coordinator Sam McCarthy outlined the great fit of gardening to grow our own food with the Healthy Clare ‘Community Food and Health’ initiative to improve health and wellbeing by growing, cooking, and eating well. She stated: “Seasonal eating focuses on eating foods that are in season to maximize health benefits, tasting fresher, having the lowest calories, and the highest nutrition.”
She continued by saying, “Upon speaking with festival manager Carmen Cronin about this core message, we decided that as we are talking to gardeners, we need to look beyond the season by supporting them to extend the season and grow even more healthy foods all year round.”
“We gardeners love a challenge, and we love eating food from our own gardens. It is indeed a sad time of year when some crops, like cucumbers, stop their vigorous production, but others, like tomatoes, can continue on into October and November. The trick is, of course, to grow them under cover. I am delighted to welcome plenty of expertise to our stage and demo areas this year to tell and show how it’s done. Of course, we will also be having a Masterclass in Growing in Polytunnels, which can be booked already now from our website,” said festival manager Carmen Cronin.
“For our smaller gardeners, we will be featuring two workshops around forest school and biodiversity again, and plenty of good food, local and national garden, plant, and craft stalls will join us. I look forward to sharing more information, so keep an eye on our social media and website,” she added.
Clare Garden Festival is running in partnership with Co Clare Agricultural Show Society and is held annually at Ennis Showgrounds, this year on Sunday, the 27th of April. Clare Garden Festival is a treat for gardeners with expert talks, workshops, demos, and masterclasses, as well as over 75 garden, food, and craft stalls. It provides a wonderful day out for all the family with great entertainment and sumptuous food.
Clare Garden Festival is proudly supported by Fruithill Farm, Healthy Clare, Pobal, Clare County Council Local Community Development Committee, Ennis Municipal District, IOMST Insurance, Blossoms on the Go Garden Centre, Colourful Creations Garden Centre, ClareEcho, Deerpark Timber Products, Frequency Domes, Gee-Up Soil Enricher, MrBinman, and Visit Caherhurley Nursery.
For further details, visit the festival website at www.claregardenfestival.com and regular updates from www.facebook.com/claregardenfestival.
