Feile na n’Ull, Apple Festival – 22nd September 2018

The 3rd annual Apple Festival and Community Fair takes place in the ecovillage at Cloughjordan. This festival, which coincides with the European Day of Sustainable Communities, celebrates the yield of apples, those that tend to the trees, who work the land and those who create delicious food.

The day features a number of talks, workshops and activities that are open to the public.

Highlights include delicious local food stalls, an apple baking contest, tours around the ecovillage, its orchards of heritage apples and a Heritage Day highlighting working animals and seed saving on the community farm.

It has been a great year for apples and at Féile na nÚll there will be a chance to get them juiced. Bring your apples for mashing and pressing and, if you have an apple pie or tart recipe you are proud of, consider entering the Apple Bake contest.

In the evening there will be a celebratory shared meal and open mic night for the Cloughjordan Community Farm 10th Anniversary Birthday! Bring a dish to share and an instrument to play!

This exciting programme of special events kicks off at 11am in and around the WeCreate enterprise centre, which is located off the Shinrone Road entrance to ecovillage.

Schedule

11.00 – Opening

Stalls and apple pressing open outside WeCreate.

Entries for Apple Bake Contest can be checked in from 11 until 3.30.

From 11 until 4 – Community Farm Heritage Day – Working Animals on Farms

Joining Cloughjordan Community Farm’s Pat Malone and his working horses are Eamonn and Geraldine McDonagh (Bovine demonstration), Harry and Mona Bartlelink (Horses and potato harvesting)

11.30 – Workshop – WeCreate Classroom
We Need To Talk About Basic Income.
A basic income is a payment from the state to every resident on an individual basis, without any means test or work requirement. It would be sufficient to live a frugal but decent lifestyle without supplementary income from paid work and will play a central role in a modern, flexible economy. Delivered by FEASTA and Basic Income Ireland.

13.00 – Exhibit – WeCreate Main Space

Introduction and exhibit on the Sustainable Development Goals

A short presentation by Davie Philip of Cultivate on the 2030 Agenda and local projects addressing the global goals.

13.30 – Introduction to Seed Saving – Cloughjordan Community Farm
A short practical workshop on the importance of saving seed with Kevin Dudley.

14.30 – FabLab Introduction – WeCreate

Visit the WeCreate FabLab and hear what it is all about with Ben Whelan. A fab lab (fabrication laboratory) is a small-scale workshop offering digital fabrication, which is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools with the aim to make “almost anything”.

15.00 – Ecovillage Presentation and Food Tour – WeCreate Main Space

The story of Cloughjordan Ecovillage presented by members of the Ecovillage Education group followed by a tour of the allotments and RED Gardens (Research gardens), the apple tree walk, the Stop Food Waste composting area, the community farm and community woodlands.

16.00 – Apple Bake Judging

16.30 – Music from local singer songwriter ‘Nicantsaoi’ celebrating the release of her new single “The Apple Walk”

17.30 – Closing – winners of the Apple Bake announced.

19.30 – Shared Meal in WeCreate celebrating the Community Farm’s 10th Birthday.

Bring a dish to share and an instrument to play!

AppleFeast18