Ballybunion Bean Festival
Saturday 16th August 2025
Join the Bean Revolution! Discover innovative ideas that challenge today’s food system and explore how humble beans can lead the way toward sustainability, healthy soils, and community empowerment.
The Ballybunion Bean Festival promises to be one of the highlights of summer 2025. This brand new, unique festival focuses on the potential of beans as the most fun and climate friendly food for the future.
The Ballybunion Bean Festival was born out of Brilliant Ballybunion, a Creative Climate Action Initiative, supported by Creative Ireland. While growing food, nurturing nature, and creating art together, the Brilliant Ballybunion team began to imagine a new future for local food production and community resilience in the face of the climate and biodiversity crises.
The future is beans! Beans are an amazing source of protein, perfect for a plant based or a climatarian diet. Beans fix nitrogen in the soil and help local ecosystems to thrive. Beans also provide an opportunity for a new model of food production – from home and community gardens to small and big farmers alike. Growing beans can happen at any scale.
The Ballybunion Bean Festival is a blueprint for what is possible – by bringing together local artists, collaborators, chefs, and businesses, it demonstrates how community action can be intentional, meaningful, and fun!!
For the last few months, the community has been growing beans for a feast, which will be followed by a concert with Sailhym. The Festival will take place within the beautiful woodlands, gardens and organic meadows of The Barna Way.
Come join this truly slow food feast. This brand new festival will be gas craic, full of beans and other corny puns.
Event Details
- When: Saturday 16th August 2025
- Where: Ballybunion Co Kerry, Ireland
- Why Attend?
- Gain insights from sustainability experts.
- Participate in hands-on workshops and live demos.
- Engage with community leaders advocating for a transformed food system.
- Be inspired to make small changes that add up to global impact.
Bean Survival Training
In the past few months, the Bean Team has been sharing organic bean seeds and soil with lots of people. Now the beans are beginning to grow and GROW 🙂
Do the guardians of the beans need a little help? We are delighted to welcome Billy Jo, who is an organic farmer on Leagh Farm in Ballyduff to answer questions about all the aspects of growing these little treasure beans!
What happens next? Can I keep them indoors? How do I transfer them? Where is the best place to grow them outside? How much soil do they need? Do they need supports?
There are lots of questions and it will be nice to meet up and chat about the beans.
Don’t forget to let us know if you would like to join the Ballybunion Bean Festival WhattsApp group for more support.
We are running a growing group at the Barna Way every Wednesday from 4 to 6pm for anyone else who would like to help and learn.
