1 week until Bloom 2018 – here’s what to expect

The five day event which showcases the best of Ireland’s horticulture and food industry will feature 20 spectacular show gardens and endless garden and floral features. Photo: Bloom.

An upside down garden, the challenges of urban living, skin cancer awareness, gender inequality, sustainable fishing and biodiversity are among the issues which will be brought to life in some of the stunning show gardens at Bord Bia’s Bloom which returns to the Phoenix Park Dublin from May 31 to June 4, 2018.

Horticulture

24 May 2018

Bloom 2018 is expected to be bigger and better than ever with 20 show gardens and a huge range floral displays. Bloom is a festival more so than just an event, and will also feature arts, crafts, music, food and drink, as well as talks, debates, workshops, and live cookery demonstrations with some of Ireland’s best loved chefs.

Show Gardens

The jewel in the crown of Bloom by Bord Bia are the show gardens created by leading garden designers worth some €1 million (accounting for plants, materials, sponsorship and labour).

These magnificent works of art have become an engaging, colourful platform for many organisations to communicate strong health and charitable messages.

For 2018 these include “Moments in Time: Dementia Understand Together”, a multi-sensory garden for dementia sufferers; a “SunSmart Garden” to raise awareness of skin cancer by the Marie Keating Foundation, designed by the UK based “Hairy Gardeners”; the “Enable Ireland Beyond Boundaries Garden” which caters for people of varying abilities; the “No Limits – GOAL’s Garden For Women” which highlights the issue of gender inequality in the developing world; and Trocaire’s “Peaceful Resistance” garden will represent the plight of Human Rights and Environmental Defenders.

Speaking at the launch, Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia said: “This will be the 12^th year that Bord Bia has hosted Bloom in the Phoenix Park and we are incredibly proud of how the event has developed and evolved over the years.

“It offers a platform for some of Ireland’s most acclaimed garden designers to showcase their skills, creativity and imagination, in developing spectacular outdoor spaces which continue to captivate our visitors. It also offers our many hardworking food producers, plant nurseries, and food and drinks companies the opportunity to engage directly with the consumers of their products in a relaxed and informal setting. And best of all it offers a great day out with something for everyone!”

In a nod to popular culture, Universal Studios will host a Greek-style garden inspired by ABBA songs to celebrate the cinema launch of Mamma Mia, Here we go again! and Woodies will celebrate 30 years in Ireland with a garden which chronicles pivotal points in Ireland’s social and cultural evolution in the “Moving Statues to Marriage Equality” garden.

The challenges of urban living and the need for access to outdoor space and cycle routes will be explored by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s “DLR-Fernhill – An Exercise in Sustainability” garden and “The Greener Way for Fingal” by Fingal County Council. While BIM’s “Sustainable Seafood Garden” will tell the story of the journey from the tide to the table of the fish and seafood that surround and inhabit our island.

Flowers

In addition to the show gardens, there will be a large number of floral installations and gardening features including 13 postcard gardens, designed by community groups; the Floral and Nursery Pavilion, which will be brimming with flowers and plants from more than 30 of the very best plant nurseries in Ireland; the Garden Expert Stage and AOIFA Floral Art Stage; a Botanical and Floral Art Exhibition; and the Office of Public Works’ Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden, located at the centre of the site, allows visitors to learn about the design and layout of this traditional garden structure.

For 2018, the centrepiece of the Floral and Nursery Pavilion will be a “living” installation designed by Oliver and Liat Schurmann, to communicate to visitors the role of Origin Green, the world’s first food and drink sustainability programme operating on a national scale, created by Bord Bia.

The semi-circular walls made from wheatgrass, barley, cress, and micro-greens will enclose a miniature town to communicate the role Origin Green plays at community level. The purpose grown feature will be dripping with water throughout the event and, as 90% of the materials are natural, it will decompose within days.

Food Features

The Bord Bia Food Village will be a bustling culinary hub showcasing the very best of Irish food and drink. This will include more than 100 Irish food producers; the Bord Bia Quality Kitchen Stage, which will host cookery demonstrations from some of Ireland’s best loved chefs including Neven Maguire, Catherine Fulvio, Paul Flynn, Oliver Dunne, Rory O’Connell, JP McMahon, and Roz Purcell, Gary O’Hanlon, and Adrian Martin; and the Bloom Inn featuring some of Ireland’s best craft brewers and distillers.

Bord Bia’s “7 A day” under the Rainbow at Bloom feature will highlight the role that fruit and vegetables play in a healthy balanced diet and offer visitors advice on how using the colours of the rainbow can make that target achievable; and the GIY Zone featuring the Food Matters Stage will host daily workshops, discussion and debate.

There will also be a range of tasty fare available for visitors throughout the site including at the BBQ Bliss area; the Country Crest Food Fayre restaurant and Bistro Bloom which sit-down table service, a seafood bar and a café.

Craft Features & Art Installations

The Irish Craft Village supported by Design and Craft Council of Ireland will present a selection of work from some of Ireland’s most creative designers and makers, as well as a series of in-person craft demonstrations.

In addition, the “Sculpture in the Park” feature garden will showcase new and previously unseen work by more than 40 artists, offering visitors an opportunity to walk through and interact with some of the best of Irish outdoor art in a garden-style setting.

The installation will feature some of Ireland’s leading artists including Orla De Brí, Stephanie Huss, Bob Quinn, Anna Campbell, Ray Delaney, and Liam Butler.

Family Fun

A number of show gardens are also sure to capture the imagination of children and young at heart visitors. These include: “The Enchanted Wood” garden designed by Peter O’Brien, created around a Dr. Seuss inspired children’s treehouse; “The Sanctuary Nurture Garden” which offers a sunken outdoor classroom created for The Phoenix Park Specialist School by Dominic O’Donohoe; and an “Upside Down Garden” created by Mark O’Loughlin which offers a simple urban terrace with a difference – the ground is the sky and the footpath and lawn are overhead.

There will also be some 200 retail exhibitors (for shopping), the YouBloom music stage, the Debenhams Fashion Stage and a children’s stage.

Tickets

Tickets are on sale now on Ticketmaster and can also be purchased on the gate. Ticket prices vary at €16 – €25 per person and children under 16 go free.

For more information visit www.bloominthepark.com or follow Bloom on Facebook and Twitter @bloominthepark.

Returning sponsors for this year’s event include FBD Insurance, Irish Independent and the Office of Public Works.