Taking place over the June bank holiday weekend from May 30 to June 3 in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, Bloom is entering its 18th year and expects to welcome more than 100,000 people over the course of the festival.
“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,” Bord Bia CEO Jim O’Toole said.
“As we look forward to the eighteenth year, the festival is more relevant than ever. Bloom offers visitors the opportunity to sample quality products and innovations, while also providing an interactive, national platform to address important societal issues and hear stories from communities around Ireland.”
At the centre of Bloom will be Gardens Galore, 22 small, medium and large show and feature gardens showcasing “the most recent trends and advancements in garden design”.
Entertainment will include talks on sustainable living, looking at issues from food waste and plastic pollution to sustainable food solutions and tips for home energy savings.
The Garden Stage will host garden experts, Bloom show garden designers past and present and a range of talks on gardening and garden design.
Top chefs including Neven Maguire, Erica Drum and Brian McDermott will provide live cookery demonstrations in the Food Village. The Budding Bloomers area will offer entertainment for children including a food school, workshops, games and toddler’s play area.
Live RTÉ broadcasts will take place across the weekend from Countrywide and Lyric FM’s Niall Carroll, Lorcan Murrary and Evelyn Grant.
Bloom’s main stage will host the station’s Marty in the Morning with Marty Whelan and Sunday Afternoon with Simon Delaney, along with special guests and live musical performances.
Head of Bord Bia Bloom, Laura Douglas, promised a unique festival experience at this year’s event.
“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 jam packed with talks and demos, there is simply no other festival like Bloom in Ireland.”
Tickets for the festival, priced at €30, are on sale now. Up to two children under 12 go free with each adult ticket.