Events - National Organic Week - September 15th to 21st 2008

News | 27 Aug 2008

Celebrate “Blas an Fhomhar” – A Nenagh Community Harvest Food Feast. 

Here is a date to mark in your diary – 21 September 2008.  There will be a Sunday afternoon feast, “Blas an Fhomhar” spearheaded by Tipperary Slow Food, to celebrate National Organic Week. This feast is a combination of all that is good in certified local organic and local foods.  It will last from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

The feast is a not-for-profit event designed to give local people accessibility to real foods.  We intend to have a very large marquee right in the middle of the road at Teach an Leinn on Kenyon Street in Nenagh.

We will be using organic beef provided by Michael Seymour’s farm; organic salad leaves from the farm of Dermot O’Mara; brown bread supplied by Orla Murray’s stall at Nenagh Farmers Market; cheese from Mossfield Organic Farm and a selection of delicious desserts, all based around local apples, provided by our friends at Nenagh’s Country Market.  Tipperary Slow Food member and local poultry producer Dorothy Harding is working closely with her colleagues in the Country Market on the dessert menu.

We have a number of funding partners who have underwritten the €4000 (approx) cost of the marquee and equipment.  These include Mayor O’Dowd, Nenagh Chamber of Commerce, Shannon Development, North Tipperary Enterprise Board and Bord Bia.

The adult students at Teach an Leinn, whom we have worked with on our educational programs, along with Mary Hackett and Olivia Kennedy of Teach an Leinn, have offered to help with service.

We envisage feeding 200 – 250 pre-booked guests on a shoestring.  All food will be supplied at cost and prepared voluntarily by a number of local producers under the supervision of Country Choice. The event will be open to families, neighbours, visitors and anyone else who would like to attend.

Pre-booking for the event is essential.  Tickets will be available at Country Choice (certified by the Organic Trust) or you can contact Sharyn at Country Choice with a credit card number and the tickets can be mailed out.  The price of a Family Ticket (2 adults, 2 children) will be €50, an Adult Ticket €20, and a Child’s Ticket €10.

Please enter the spirit and come along to this feel-good harvest food celebration!  Meet some new people in an informal setting and have a good day out.

The dinner will be preceded by a historic food walk at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon for those who are interested.  The walk will include historical information on the food of the castle, Franciscan Abbey, the jail, the famine kitchen at Abbey Street and later the information of the fair day in Nenagh, with emphasis on our historic past in food as one of the principal markets of Munster.

We are grateful to An Garda Siochana and the Road Section of North Tipperary County Council for their help and guidance in setting up this event.

Traditional music will be provided by the Kenyon Bar and toilet facilities will be provided courtesy of the Kenyon Bar and Dowlings on Kenyon Street.

The catch – we really need volunteers for the day for stewarding and hosting!  Even if you can just give us ½ hour for setting up beforehand or clearing away after the feast, it will be appreciated.

Please email if you plan to attend or if you can help us out on the day.