Blackwater wins garden Gold

Blackwater Distillery won a Gold Medal at Bord Bia’s Bloom Festival for its bespoke designed garden, making it the drinks industry’s first gin garden.

 

 

The Distillery, founded in 2012, is located on the banks of the Blackwater River in County Waterford with the company rapidly expanding through the launch of products such as Boyle’s Gin, Blackwater No 5 – a London dry gin, Woulfe’s Irish Vodka and the limited-edition Barry’s Tea-Infused Gin. In 2018, it became Ireland’s 21^st whiskey distillery.

At this year’s Bloom the Blackwater Gin garden was one of 22 show gardens nominated for the Best Medium Size Garden. The category celebrates the skill and creativity of Ireland’s garden designers, landscapers and horticulturalists.

The Blackwater Gin garden was designed by Peter Cowell and Monty Richardson and showcases how inventive up-cycling of reclaimed and salvaged materials can lead to the creation of a garden that’s both planet-friendly and lovely to look at.

Over 115,000 people attended Bord Bia’s Bloom festival in Dublin’s Phoenix Park over the June Bank Holiday weekend.

“Bloom 2019 was also a hive of activity for business,” said Bord Bia Chief Executive Tara McCarthy, “Now in its 13^th year Bloom provides Bord Bia with an invaluable opportunity to engage with the public, helping us to build insight and share new ideas while also celebrating and showcasing the best of Ireland’s horticulture, food and drink industry.

“Bloom has a strong track-record of delivering sales and new business for those exhibiting both here onsite and in the key months following the festival. Over 250 UK and Irish food buyers attended Bord Bia’s trade breakfast on Friday for face-to-face meetings with over 100 food and drink companies while we estimate in excess of €10 million was spent onsite.”

To make the annual show happen, a total of 4,000 people worked onsite over the five days including 200 Bord Bia volunteers.

It will take 14 days to clear the Bloom site.

Plans and preparations are already well underway for Bloom 2020 with many show gardens, sponsors and designers already signed-up. Bord Bia has also confirmed that Bloom 2020 will take place from Thursday May 28th to Monday June 1st 2020.