Harvest festival in Waterford, 2017

As we crossed the Knockmealdowns and returned to County Waterford, why not to visit Waterford city again, especially on a Harvest festival weekend.

Harvest festival is a lot about eating and being merry. Parnell street is turned into an outdoor restaurant, live music is playing, some people are cooking and all the other people are eating.

Cuisine from around the world.

And cakes, cakes and more cakes! I got a bag of delicious homemade marshmallows – passion fruit flavor, yum.

Apple juice from the award winning Clashganny organic Farm. 

Banana bread from Dunmore East Amish Mennonite community bakery.

Organic vegetables from GIY Waterford, which stands for, of course, Grow It Yourself.

This is Síona from GROW.

She and her colleague are running the Grow Cook Eat stand, and I can see that it is popular and many people stop by to get a brochure. GIY is a not-for-profit enterprise dedicated to supporting, educating and inspiring people to grow some of their own food.

I am a huge fan and supporter of the GIY idea. It is not only about food. It is one of the aspects of carers mentality. Care for the Earth, resources, health, life.

GROW headquarters in Ardkeen offer a great variety of classes and workshops, including yoga and mindfulness meditation, chicken and bee-keeping, fermented drinks and beer brewing. Just everything.

I am moving from one location to another looking for some craft workshops, but cannot find any. Last year there were plenty – some of them were featured in my blog.

Honey harvest stand looks and smells beautifully.

This man is selling miniature Standing Stones. They look cute and I would love to talk about them with the artist himself, but I am afraid he doesn’t like photographers 😉 As far as I know the artist’s name is Peter Atkins, from Waterford. The replicas he makes are really cute 🙂

But this beautiful lady from Ballybeg Greens likes photographers. Good for her!

I spot a pair of donkey ears in the painting. Carol Murray’s works are here as a part of the outdoor exhibition Art on the Railings where young and established artists of different mediums can hang their artwork in the Viking Triangle.

And look who is here! My ‘friends’ from Dunmore East 🙂

Of course these two gentlemen had nothing to do with the incident at the oyster farm 🙂 They were nice and didn’t mind to be photographed.

These poor creatures deserve a word of mention. They had to wear heavy wigs and thick garb, and those creepy ride-on costumes with fake legs… No wonder they looked so sad. They didn’t even have a proper walking staff to keep their balance and had to use tree branches …

… while there were hundreds of beautiful Shillelaghs!

I just couldn’t take my eyes off all those cute animals.

I hope you enjoyed the festival. Next week we are going to Dublin.

inesemjphotography Have a wonderful weekend!

87 comments

  4. It’s tricky with a camera around market stalls, isn’t it? Some people think you’re stealing their ideas, so I always feel a bit awkward. This looks a wonderfully lively event with some great ideas. 🙂 🙂

  5. I like the shelleilleahs! Inese, the Fox on the pretty carved walking stick made me smile and think of Patty. Hope he and the foxes are well and staying happy. ❤
    I have made homemade marshmallows! I like plain ole’ vanilla or coconut flavored.
    The little girl in the booth of sweets reminds me of one of your grandchildren. Love you, Inese. I am finally almost caught up since September. . . Happy Autumn 🍁🌻🍂

    1. Robin, you are my hero! You have made the marshmallows – I think it is a quintessence of the culinary art. I am seriously going to make some on my holidays. ❤

      1. My mother in law loved them so I had to learn how to impress her. They are so uniquely delicious! Thanks for saying this fun thought! You’re my hero for traipsing in dangerous places to share puffins and those interesting sights. . .
        She’s gone but I do think it is a lost art and should try this again. 😊

  8. What an amazing festival. I could spend hours browsing the stalls, and eating, of course. The cakes would be too tempting to pass by without buying some. I had no idea there was an Amish community in Ireland. so that was and interesting ‘find’ for me. I agree that growing your own produce is excellent and saves a lot of money. Unfortunately many people either don’t have time, or a big enough garden to try it. Love the honey product stall, too – and the different shillelaghs are beautiful.
    I can well understand the attraction of this great Waterford festival and your fabulous photos bring it to life for us to share with you. Thank you!

    1. Thank you so much Millie! I wish you tried the homemade marshmallows 🙂 This is not a big and spectacular festival but nothing brings people together like mingling with strangers who, the same like you, have a paper plate full of great food in their hands 🙂

  9. The expression on that stone-maker’s face is pretty precious, Inese! I can only imagine how he’d look if he *liked* photographers, oy!

    It’s a pity about the craft stalls. Isn’t that strange about events where what’s expected doesn’t happen, but then you get lots of what you don’t expect? You’ve some beautiful shots of people in action, people talking, and those carved animals are quite impressive. Plus your food shots made my stomach rumble. Stunning as always, my dear. 🙂 xxxx

    1. Thank you so much Jean! Glad you enjoyed being in Waterford again 🙂 I remember your photographs from a Polish festival. They were fantastic xxxx

  11. The pictures are crystal clear, and as usual, excellent portrays! 🙂 Thanks for sharing!

  12. Lots of tasty things to eat, all very yummy. We’ve had a most bountiful harvest from our allotment this year, especially of marrows, yellow courgettes, and squashes. Many of our friends and neighbours have benefited from this, as we couldn’t possibly eat all the produce ourselves! …Oh dear, Peter of the standing stones looks very disapproving of your camera. I’m glad that everybody else seemed happy at you clicking away, though.

    1. Thank you Sarah! I love courgettes and cook them almost every week. It is possible to stew and can them too, with some bell peppers, tomatoes and aubergines. I did it when I was a young enthusiastic mother 🙂
      Yes, Peter doesn’t appreciate publicity 😉 But his stone replicas look very real 🙂

    1. Thank you Diana! It was a great festival. I think that if a family were committed to growing just one thing, the Earth would look a little bit like a garden 🙂

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