Showcase of Ireland’s Crafts at RDS

Showcase launch

Showcase launch

Showcase is Ireland’s annual creative crafts fair, and the country’s largest international trade show.

This year’s expo goes live from this coming Sunday the 19th until the 22nd, the following Wednesday, at the RDS in Ballsbridge. Designers and artisans from Leinster will be the special featured traders, presenting a selection of their wares, such as jewellery, knitwear, leatherware and handmade soaps.

This year (the 38th year of the show) the stalls will be divided between the two broad categories of Fashion and Jewellery, and Home and Gift. There will also be an Enterprise Zone where products from particular regions will be being promoted and displayed by the County and City Enterprise Boards. There will be an educational dimension for retailers, with frequent seminars on topics such as design, merchandising strategies and market trend-watching. The centre piece of the event, putting the show in Showcase is the Creative Island where 86 designers will display their best products “Imagined, Designed and Made” here in Ireland

Exhibitors from Laois, Meath, Wexford, Westmeath, Dublin, Kildare and beyond will be in attendance – for a full list visit http://www.showcaseireland.com/exhibitors for full details.

The organisers of Showcase 2014 are confidently predicting a ten percent rise in international buyers this year, proving that Irish crafts are healthy and small business still has life in it yet. So pop along, either to stock your own business with fine homegrown wares, or to see the state of the nation through the eyes of its entrepreneurs and craftspeople, working hard through tough times.

See http://www.showcaseireland.com/ for full details

Image: Model L’Or Mayo pictured at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks for the Showcase Launch earlier this month.
By Rúairí Conneely