When – 26th October 2024
Where – Kinvara Community Centre, Kinvara, Co. Galway
The annual Farming For Nature Gathering will be held on Saturday 26th October in Kinvara, Co. Galway as part of the Burren Winterage Weekend 2024 (October Bank Holiday).
This will be a day of a walk out on the Burren, talks and panel discussions followed by the annual Farming For Nature Ambassador Awards as well as cultural performances.
This event allows us to come together to celebrate farmers across Ireland who are striving to work alongside nature, and to share ideas on how these great custodians might best be supported at a time of great challenge and opportunity.
All farmers and other interested parties who want to be part of this discussion and learn more about farming for nature are welcome to attend.
Draft Outline
The 2024 Farming For Nature Gathering
Saturday 26th October
10am-12.30pm: Farming For Nature in the Burren
Option 1: Farm Walk led by local farmers out on the Burren, location provided nearer time – near Carron.
Option 2: A series of talks by the NPWS on rare breeds etc. Location to be provided nearer the time – near Carron.
1pm-2pm: Lunch & Registration
Join us and fellow farmers over a spot of lunch and a cup of tea. Soup and sandwiches will be provided at the Kinvara Community Centre. If you are working on a project you would to show or an agri business feel free to bring a stand and/or some leaflets to share.
2pm-3.15pm Panel 1: Building Resilience: farmers adapting to a rapidly changing climate
Farming For Nature Ambassadors & Panellists:
tbc
Chaired (tbc)
3.15pm-3.45pm Tea provided
3.45pm-4.15pm Panel 2: The ‘Art’ of Farming: Creative Approaches to Contemporary Challenges
Farming For Nature Ambassadors & Panellists:
tbc
Chaired (tbc)
4.15 – 4.30: Wrap up
4.30pm-6.30pm Free Time
Kinvara has a number of eateries to enjoy or feel free to bring your dinner and have a cup of tea at the Hall.
6.30-10pm ‘Landscape Connections: A Winterage Evening’
6.30pm-8pm The Annual Farming For Nature Ambassador Awards
Meet and celebrate our new Farming For Nature Ambassadors for 2024; exemplary farmers acting as stewards for their landscapes. Event is hosted by journalist, Ella McSweeney.
Interval with drinks and nibbles
8.30pm-10pm ‘Cultural Connections’ Poetry, dance, music, images and storytelling on the theme of connecting to landscapes with poet Jane Clarke, dancer Edwina Gluckian and traditional musician Jack Talty.
10pm (Gathering in Tully’s pub for a chat/pint)
Booking:
€25 for a day ticket (includes farm walk, lunch panel discussions, awards & cultural event). This nominal change is to help us prevent no-shows and to contribute to the unfunded cost of Farming For Nature in hosting this event.
Capacity in Kinvara Town Hall: 200 people
Sunday 27th October – Community Cattle Drive
The Annual Community Cattle Drive & Food Fayre. Separate booking required, book here.
On Sunday, the 27th of October, you are invited to join the Burren Winterage Cattle Drive -the flagship event of the weekend where hundreds of people join a local farming family in herding their cattle to the winterage pastures. This year’s drive promises to be particularly special in that, for the first time ever, the host ‘farmer’ will be the National Parks and Wildlife Service who recently purchased a farm in the heart of the Burren, along with a herd of Irish Maol cattle – a beautiful, rare, native breed.
The farm, once owned by traditional shorthorn farmer Gerald McGann, features spectacular views of Carron turlough (a seasonal lake) and contains a huge range of habitats and archaeological sites. It will also be the location for the Burren Food Fayre, organised by the Burren Eco-tourism Network, which will offer a true ‘taste of the Burren’, supplied by local food producers. A plaque to the late Mr McGann will be unveiled at the event and the old farm buildings, which once housed machinery, hay bales and livestock, will host a photography exhibition, short films and display of rare native breeds including Irish Moiled Cattle, Droimeann Cattle, Kerry Cattle, Connemara Pony, Galway Sheep, Cladoir Sheep, Old Irish Goat, etc.
Don’t forget the hour change!
Burren Winterage Weekend:
Details of other events happening at the Burren Winterage Weekend can be found on www.burrenwinterage.com. Booking on this Farming For Nature network day does not necessary give entry to other events over the weekend. Please see the booking details of these events on the above site.
This event allows us to come together to celebrate farmers across Ireland who are striving to work alongside nature, and to share ideas on how these great custodians might best be supported at a time of great challenge and opportunity.
All farmers and other interested parties who want to be part of this discussion and learn more about farming for nature are welcome to attend.
For a taster of the panel discussions, here’s one from 2021 with Farming for Nature Ambassadors Padraig Corcoran, Jane Shackleton, and Tommy Earley talking about ‘Paying for Ecosystem Services.’
For more, visit our Youtube channel here.
For a preview of what the weekend is like, see here:
