Festival of Gardens and Nature returns to Laois
This year's Festival of Gardens and Nature takes place on Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 May.
The Festival of Gardens and Nature returns for its second outing to Ballintubbert Gardens and House, just outside Stradbally on Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 May.
Founded by the garden designer Catherine FitzGerald and Minnie Preston the festival is a celebration of creativity, sustainability and the natural world.
Speakers over the two day event include Nigel Slater, Diarmuid Gavin, Darina Allen, Tom Stuart-Smith, Sean Ronayne, Johnny Flynn, Fergus Garrett, Dominic West, Giuliana Furci, Jamie Walton (aka Nettles and Petals), Merlin Sheldrake and many more.
Hear from this phenomenal group of pioneering gardeners and designers, nature writers and musicians, big thinkers and activists, from home and abroad at an event as entertaining and relaxed as it is inspirational and informative.
Other speakers include Kitty Scully, Andrea Brunsendorf, Rory O’Connell, Charlie Harpur, Sean Pritchard, Thomas Pakenham, Neil Porteous and Niall Williams.
Following the success of last year’s festival, this year’s event will feature a diverse range of talks, conversations and workshops, set amongst the magical surroundings of Ballintubbert Gardens.
New for 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 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.
The festival will also showcase artisanal food vendors, organic coffee and locally made cider. Soak up the festival atmosphere with kindred spirits and fellow enthusiasts while browsing carefully curated plant stalls and garden antiques from vendors such as Howbert and Mays book sellers and Abito work wear. In the evening enjoy a pint while listening to music from actor and musician Johnny Flynn.
Ticket: €110 Saturday ticket; €70 Sunday Ticket; €165 Full Weekend Ticket.
For more information and to purchase tickets log onto https://festivalofgardensandnature.com/
