Pictured L to R: Mary O’ Brien vice-chair of AOIFA,
Brid Coonan President of AOIFA, Valerie Murphy, Mary Doyle, Therese Kilcullen, Lorraine O Brien, Kathleen Carr, Candy Holden Chair of AOIFA and Harumi Langford
NewsFour is happy to report that local floral artist Lorraine O’Brien was once again amongst the prize-winners at this year’s Bloom Festival.
This is Lorraine’s second time to have an entry at the festival and her second time to win a prestigious Bloom award.
Cutting Edge, the vibrant and striking display that Lorraine and her team created for the event received lots of admiration from visitors to the Floral Pavilion, even before the results were announced. The piece combined creative thinking with contemporary design and Lorraine was happy to receive a silver gilt to add to her collection of awards.
She told NewsFour: “Myself and the team were delighted with the Silver gilt medal. We put a huge effort into the exhibit and it looked really well. The flowers lasted for the show, in fact I still have a couple of orchids saved from the display nearly five weeks later.”
Bloom 2017 was, as always, held in the Phoenix Park over the June bank holiday weekend. A record 120,000 people attended the festival this year. There they enjoyed 22 stunning show gardens, 13 postcard gardens and 33 nursery displays, as well as some of Ireland’s best home-produced food, drink, crafts and art.
Bloom patron and President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, officially opened the event on June 1st and he was everything you would want in a president and more, chatting with the exhibitors and posing for selfies with some lucky visitors. With the festival site packed to capacity, this had his security detail somewhat on edge. They had no need to worry, he was more than warmly received as he made his way around the exhibits spreading the love.
The judging panel for Bloom 2017 comprised of 14 Irish and international horticultural experts. They awarded more than 100 awards to show garden designers, amateur postcard garden designers; nurseries and floral artists including 28 Gold, 18 Silver Gilt, 21 Silver and 21 Bronze medals.
Business was brisk and plant sales were up 20% compared to last year, with over than 10,000 visitors leaving their purchases in the Plant Crèche to be cared for while they enjoyed the festival. More than 4,000 people worked onsite over the five days, including 200 Bord Bia volunteers.
Tara McCarthy, Chief Executive of Bord Bia commented, “We are proud that our Bloom event has developed into such an inspirational festival of creativity, a place where creators of food and drink, of gardens, craft and art get a platform to tell their story.
Each year, Bloom provides Bord Bia, and our key stakeholders, with an invaluable opportunity to engage with consumers, helping us to build insight, learn and share new ideas while celebrating and showcasing the best of Ireland’s horticulture, food and drink industry.”
By Jennifer Reddin
