I'm sure every man and his dog by now has heard of Bloom. If you haven't, here's a quick explanation: Bloom is a huge flower and food show in Dublin, Ireland, and is held in summer every year. This was my first year attending it as I'm home for the summer and am enjoying doing different things. My mum got a media pass from Bord Bia so I was lucky enough to go along as her +1.
We headed up on the train and got the LUAS to Heuston to get on the free shuttle bus to Phoenix Park. Our bus driver was absolutely hilarious, cracking jokes and even singing! It really set us up for the day and put a pep in our step. We didn't have to queue for long at all to get in which was great. I was blown away by how big Bloom really was and how much there was to see. It was quite busy but not so busy it was impossible to move, which was nice.
Our first stop was the food exhibitors tent - of course! There was a lot of selection such as Broderick's, Keogh's, Bluebell Falls Goats' Cheese, Innocent, Rebel Chilli, The Happy Pear and so much more. We enjoyed lots of samples and were so full we barely had room for lunch! I managed though ;-) I headed over to the Food Village to check out what was on offer. I was happy to see The Happy Pear and The Vegan Kitchen who had lots of lovely vegetarian and vegan options. However, I did think most of the food was quite pricey and as I was on a budget and quite full anyway I just went for a pizza slice. I do think €4.50 for a pizza slice is a bit pricey especially seeing as a slice the same size was £1.80 in Newcastle market but there you go! It was nice but in hindsight I wish I'd have gone for a lovely vegan wrap from The Vegan Kitchen. I really liked Broderick's stall as they were showing their brand new B.C. bars which are basically a healthy protein bar filled with edamame beans, chia seeds, nuts and pea protein. They were delish, I'd definitely buy them.
The weather wasn't great, we were there from about 12.30 - 4 and it drizzled quite a lot of the day so I had a soggy bottom (ooh I'm like Mary Berry) and a soggy pizza slice - and no, that's not an innuendo! I would have liked to see a few more sheltered areas to have lunch. In the food demo stand, we saw Michael D Higgins announcing the opening of the festival which was very exciting.
I loved the Craft Village which showcased a lot of Irish exhibitors. My favourites included Martina Hamilton jewellery, Lainey K prints (I absolutely love her prints, especially the flamingos!) and Annabel Langrish with her fabulous animal themed cards, coasters, mugs and ceramic wall hangings. It was a good job I didn't bring much money as I'd have been buying everything!
The show gardens and flower arrangements in Bloom were fabulous, I wish I was that creative. I'd love to be able to design a garden half as nice as some of the ones at Bloom. My favourites included the Dog's Trust garden and Trócaire whose motto was 'conquering fear with love'. There was also a beautiful show garden made of mosaic pieces who said they wanted to show that even though us humans can be made of broken pieces it doesn't mean we aren't beautiful.
Other notable moments included Michael Martin touching my back and me going 'who's that?', seeing someone wheeling flowers around in a wheelchair, and nearly getting knocked down by everyone running like Usain Bolt to get a free bit of Brady's Ham. Never change, Ireland.
So that was my Bloom blog, all in all it's a great day out and I'd definitely go back - maybe when the weather is a little bit nicer though! Kids under 16 go free and you can get tickets at the entrance in case you make the last minute decision to go tomorrow, Sunday or Monday. It really is worth going to.
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