This spring, Burrenbeo Trust is delighted to announce the programme for the annual Burren in Bloom festival, which celebrates the arrival of the Burren wildflowers and the interaction between people, landscape and nature which makes our area so unique. Having maintained the tradition of herding their cattle onto winterage grasslands, farmers harvest the previous summer’s growth, ensuring the famous herbs have light and space to bloom again in spring.
Taking place from 6th-30th May overall at several localities throughout the Burren, the festival culminates in the weekend of 18th-20th May. Beginning with a Bealtaine dawn chorus, walks throughout the festival include explorations with ecologists of woodland, limestone pavement and other rare Burren habitats, complemented by farm walks near Fanore, Carron and Tubber with the experts on the ground, the local farmers who tend their land and livestock for conservation of this unusual landscape, its flora and heritage.
Visits to gardens at Caher Bridge, Rockvale and the Burren Perfumery show how working with local conditions can produce unique results in sights and scents. Family walks explore both how humans and wildlife get recipes and remedies from wild plants at the Burren Nature Sanctuary, and the variety of Burren seashore life at the Flaggy Shore.
Talks by local and national experts include Micheline Sheehy Skeffington both celebrate the botanical treasures of the Burren, and highlight the steps we must take for nature conservation in Ireland. Practical identification of flowers, plants and grasses with leading ecologists take place on walks out in the field, and at a workshop in Carron field station. The beauty of the wildflowers is also explored, both through a series of art classes and workshops with the Burren College of Art inspired by the plants and their place in the landscape, and by their scents in inspiring the Burren Perfumery. The culture of the Burren and its links to nature is further celebrated through music and singing sessions.
Walks are €10 and €5 for Burrenbeo Trust members unless otherwise stated. Note: some of the events will require booking beforehand as numbers are restricted. Please see www.burreninbloom.com for the events programme, booking details and prices, and further information.
The Burren in Bloom festival is coordinated by Burrenbeo Trust, and is supported by The Heritage Council, local businesses that provide free venues, and many of our speakers who are giving their time for free to the charity. Burrenbeo Trust is dedicated to connecting people and place with the aim to help all of us identify ways in which we care for our places. This is carried out through providing information, education, active conservation and supporting research on the future sustainable management of the Burren region. We are supported by numerous businesses in the area, and ask that in turn you support them; see here for more information on who supports us. For more information on the Burren area or becoming member of the Burrenbeo Trust go to www.burrenbeo.com