Bloom Festival is

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

's largest gardening show. It is a large five-day event, held each year in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

, Dublin. It was first held in 2007, and is organised by Bord Bia (The Irish Food Board). The 2020 event was cancelled owing to the measures taken to address the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.

History

The first Bloom garden festival was held in June 2007 and opened by then

President of Ireland The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The president holds office for seven years, and can ...

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

. Since its launch, the show has been run by Louise Mc Loughlin, assisted by Gareth Buckley and Gary Graham (Food Board). The fourth (2010) festival was opened on 3 June 2010, with around 8,000 people visiting during the opening day. Chinese ambassador Liu Biwei and the

Earl of Rosse Earl of Rosse is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland, both times for the Parsons family. "Rosse" refers to New Ross in County Wexford. History The Parsons were originally an English family from Dishworth (Disewort ...

were among notable attendees. Former Chelsea Flower Show judge Andrew Wilson also judged at the event. The 2010 event featured 24 gardens spread across of Phoenix Park. The winner of ''Super Garden'', an

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

competition, was among them. Past events have featured professional gardeners, an artisan food market and culinary displays from several celebrity chefs. Since the event was launched, the show has had an increasing focus on food, with garden designers finding it hard to get sponsorship, and the food board Bord Bia, pushing its food agenda. The event has historically attracted large volumes of visitors, increasing from 60,000 people as of the 2010 festival, to approaching 120,000 people by the time of the 2019 event. The volume of visitors has led to long queues, and increased levels of traffic in the area. The event organisers have sought to encourage attendees to make use of public transport.

Gallery

File:Bloom in the Park 2017 1.jpg, RTÉ logo at Bloom 2017 File:Bloom in the Park 2017 33.jpg, Show garden, 2017 File:Bloom in the Park 2017 9.jpg, Plant exhibit, 2017

References

External links

Bloom Festival official site
{{coord missing, County Dublin Annual events in Ireland Gardening in the Republic of Ireland Horticultural exhibitions Flora of Ireland Recurring events established in 2007 Tourist attractions in Dublin (city)