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100,000 expected to attend Bloom gardening festival in Dublin
🇮🇪 Ireland /Culture & Society

100,000 expected to attend Bloom gardening festival in Dublin

From RTÉ News · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Approximately 100,000 visitors are expected at the Bloom festival in Dublin's Phoenix Park, an event focused on gardening, food, and sustainability.
  • The festival, sponsored by Bord Bia, will run for five days and is the first event in Ireland to achieve ISO 20121:2024 accreditation for event sustainability.
  • This year's themes include biodiversity, climate action, mental health, and features like a garden celebrating Ireland's EU presidency and Bloom's 20th anniversary.

Dublin's Phoenix Park is set to host the annual Bloom festival, a five-day celebration of gardening, food, and sustainability, expecting around 100,000 visitors. The event, sponsored by Bord Bia, kicks off today and is notable for being the first in Ireland to achieve ISO 20121:2024 accreditation for event sustainability.

worked very hard over the past two decades to keep pricing as accessible and reasonable as possible, despite significant increases in event-delivery costs across the sector

— A spokesperson for the eventExplaining the organizers' efforts to manage ticket pricing despite rising costs.

This year's festival highlights key themes such as biodiversity, climate action, and mental health. Attendees can explore a variety of show gardens, including one commemorating Ireland's presidency of the EU, another marking Bloom's 20th anniversary with a sculptural design, and a garden dedicated to 90 years of Met Éireann, Ireland's national meteorological service.

Further enriching the festival experience, several health-focused gardens will address mental health care and cancer awareness. An organic farming garden will also be showcased. For the first time, Bloom will feature an Irish plant showcase and a dedicated wellness village across its 70-acre site. Community groups from around the country will present 'postcard gardens' exploring themes like boglands and prison rehabilitation.

Bloom’s concession ticket pricing this year reflects the same phased pricing structure used across most major live events and festivals, where tickets are more affordable the earlier they are purchased.

— A spokesperson for the eventDescribing the ticketing strategy for the Bloom festival.

President Catherine Connolly, a patron of Bloom, will officially open the event. Organizers have addressed concerns about ticket prices, noting that while gate prices have increased since the festival's inception 20 years ago, they have worked to keep costs accessible. They emphasize that Bloom offers strong value compared to similar international events, with comparable shows in the UK often costing significantly more.

Bloom organisers say the event continues to offer strong value compared with similar large-scale events both domestically and internationally, with comparable gardening shows in the UK (eg Chelsea) starting from over £120 per ticket

— A spokesperson for the eventHighlighting the value proposition of the Bloom festival compared to international counterparts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by RTÉ News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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