Cloughjordan to host festival of apples
Féile na nÚll a celebration of nature, community and art
Féile na nÚll, the annual community apple festival, will take place at the Enterprise Centre in Cloughjordan Ecovillage on Saturday, September 21, 1-6pm (E53 VP86).
Now in its seventh year, Féile na nÚll is a celebration of nature, community and art. The festival offers a vibrant day filled with engaging activities centred around celebrating the humble brilliance of apples!
At the ‘core’ of the festival is the apple press, facilitated by the Night Orchard. Festival attendees are invited to bring their own apples, join in the pressing process, and take home the freshly bottled juice. All amounts of apples are welcome, from a single bag to crate-loads of apples. Last year over 600 litres of juice were pressed, and this year the Night Orchard hopes to press even more!
There will be craft and food stalls, hot food available throughout the day, and outdoor games including giant Jenga and a huge Connect 4, called Connect 4 resilience.
As a community initiative, the apple pressing is donation-based service, to support people to use an abundant, seasonal local natural resource in a fun, sustainable and tasty way.
There’s lots more to do too at Féile na nÚll. This includes the now legendary Apple Bake contest, which welcomes contestants to enter their best apple-based recipes. Apple pies, tarts and crumbles of all persuasions are welcome. Just make sure to stay to the end of the festival to see who will be victorious and to sample their winning creations!
COOKERY DEMONSTRATION
Also on offer are practical apple-based workshops, including an apple drying workshop, which offers participants the opportunity to learn techniques for peeling, chopping and dehydrating apples into tasty snacks that can be stored and snacked on throughout the year.
The September 21 event will also see a cookery demonstration delivered by Riot Rye Bakehouse and Breadschool that will teach festival-goers about Irish organic grains and how to turn them into a delicious wholemeal tart; a bicycle-powered apple press demonstration; as well as a traditional cider-making workshop.
Féile na nÚll also has several educational talks on offer. These include apple-themed talks on the ‘history of the Cloughjordan apple collection’ and ‘how capitalism is transforming the apple.’
Both talks offer an insight into the living symbolism of the apple, a fruit that signifies local attempts to live sustainably alongside ongoing capitalist commodification of nature.
Other educational talks to get you wandering around the lush 67-acre site include a guided ‘plant medicine walk’ and ‘Cloughjordan Ecovillage Tour’.
Both will provide an insight into the world around us, whether it be the community of plants or humans that inhabit Cloughjordan.
These walking tours are dovetailed by talks on:
Active hope and community wellbeing - which will encourage people to engage in dialogue around biodiversity and climate action;
Tiny house building - this will offer attendees an insight into sustainable living; and, Community-supported agriculture - this will be a conversation between an established and a new CSA: Cloughjordan’s and one recently established by Bohemians Football Club, a contingent from which will be visiting Cloughjordan on the day.
ARTISTIC REFLECTIONS
As a celebration of community, Féile na nÚll also offers immersive artistic reflections.
The festival will open with an ecologically engaged performance by Instant Dissidence. The choreography will aim to connect attendees, performers and apple through the power of community-based art. Meanwhile, local dance artist Julie Lockett will present a series of her ‘written landscores.’ Attendees will also be invited to listen to an audio piece titled ‘accepting change and changing acceptance’, which will stimulate contemplation on contemporary community activism.
All the above events take place within or around the Enterprise Centre, Cloughjordan Ecovillage.
Féile na nÚll 2024 promises a wonderful day out for the family to celebrate apples, community, sustainability and creativity.
A festival nestled in community, there is something on offer for everyone.
Whether you are a food lover, nature enthusiast, art aficionado or looking for a family fun day out, Féile na nÚll has something for you!