Belvedere Garden Festival a blooming success

Blooming after the success of the Belvedere Garden Festival on Sunday July 19, the team are already making plans to repeat it next year.

The new marketing and events co-ordinator at Belvedere, Liam Glynn, was particularly pleased with how the event went, and said it was a reward for the long hours he and colleagues had put in to

“It was an amazing day,” said Liam. “We were blessed with the weather, a factor that helped the day be a success. And the second factor that made the day a success was the local community and the public turning up.”

Westmeath Rose, Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh officially opened the festival at midday, though by then the visitor centre and grounds were already busy.

“We had lots of activities, and we had four speakers that educated people about gardening in our AV room,” said Liam.

The speakers were Aine Vambeck, Emma Noonan, representatives from Crann, and Sarah from Slow Field Flowers, and the room venue was full of eager gardeners and plant lovers.

“Then there were three stalls in our visitor centre and from the Jealous Wall up to the house and back to the lakes shore was filled with stalls.”

The stalls offered various different things, from lawnmowers, to local crafts, to rare plants.

“We had our Kids Zone which had free face painting.” The Kids Zone was sponsored by CL Tool Hire.

“There was ‘Pot a Sunflower’ for them and that was popular as well. The children got to bring home little biodegradable pots with a sunflower seed in them, so they could watch them grow, and that provided an interactive element for them. “And we had Zorbing at the Quay, they brought in more amusements like zorbing balls and Ireland’s largest inflatable slide.”

There was also a huge variety of food on the day. “There were loads of food stalls like Joe Brady and his Lough Owel Organic burgers, which actually sold out – and that just shows the number of people that were there.”

Belvedere has had many festivals throughout the years but the Garden Festival is Liam’s personal reboot of what’s on offer at the venue.

“This is the first one I’ve done and we’re calling it the Garden Festival now going forward.”

Liam won’t have a chance to relax as he and the rest of the team at Belvedere prepare for the upcoming Belvedere Apple Festival.

“It’s going to be a food festival on September 5 and 6, it’s all go – no rest for the wicked.

“It comes from an apple in Belvedere, at the moment there are only a few trees that grow it. It’s called the Belvedere apple and it’s been there throughout the history of Belvedere.

“It’s unique, a cooking apple. It’s very dark red on the outside but when you cut it open, it’s red on the inside.”

The plan is to incorporate the apple festival with Taste of Westmeath. “We’re going to have local producers incorporate apples into their stands and stalls.”

Liam says those interested should keep an eye out on social media as, “it’s all going to be confirmed in the next few days”.

The 2027 Garden Festival is expected to be on June 30. “It’s definitely on my radar to expand it, we’ll have a team meeting now and chat to a few people about it, and obviously these events don’t happen without investment.”

Liam thanked all those who donated to the festival this year and invited anyone who wishes to get involved in 2027 to do so.

“We want to make it local so the more people that can come on board the better, and we’ll happily work with them,” he added.