Aug 19, 2025 | News
The Ballybunion Bean Festival was a huge success this weekend. The festival was hosted by Brilliant Ballybunion, a creative climate action project that focuses of supporting community collaborators to grow food, protect nature and be creative all at the same time.
The festival took place at the The Barna Way an organic farm and woodland just outside Ballybunion. As part of the commitment to reducing carbon, festival goers cycled or were bussed to and from the venue.
The festival celebrated the humble bean and all its wonderful qualities as a source of food, protein and nitrogen fixing for soil. In the context of the multi-crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and wars, the Ballybunion Bean Festival wanted to create a microcosm of what is possible when communities come together to create transformative change.
Grainne Toomey the project manager said, “One of the things I loved most about the festival was that it was co-created by the local community and we designed and created the festival together”.
According to one of the organisers Rena Blake “Food was really important at the festival. We started growing beans last year and distributed them to the community so that local school children and adults could grow their own beans. All the food was grown and harvested as locally and organically as possible. We managed to serve over 160 meals on the day and only had one tiny bowl of food waste. This was really important in a world where 30% of the food produced is wasted before being consumed according to the UN”.
Lisa Fingleton is the lead artist with the project. She says “Creativity is so important. It wonderful to be able to share drawings and films during the day. Marta O Connor wrote a brilliant interactive play called The Bean Chronicles and Sailhymn performed songs that they had written during their residency at The Barna Way”.
The festival was a great blend of the fun and the serious consideration of the future. It seemed appropriate to end the day in a climate event of heavy rain and fork lightening which couldn’t dampen the magic and energy of the day.
Jul 30, 2025 | News
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.
TO BOOK TICKETS CLICK HERE
May 2, 2025 | Events, News
BOOKED OUT
Music for the early birds!
Enjoy the wonder of the dawn chorus at The Barna Way as part of the Ballybunion MOYA festival.
Wonderful to see so many people booked in to witness the magic of the waking woodland with Sean Cullhane and Rena Blake
Did you know that the birds with the biggest eyes sing first. How beautiful is that!
Don’t forget to bring walking shoes and dress for the weather.
May 1, 2025 | Events, News
We are full of BEANS and are so excited to invite you to the launch of the Ballybunion BEAN Festival at 7pm on Sat, 3rd May, outside Coast Cafe.
Whether you have BEAN gardening for years or are a total newBEAN, we have the BEAN for you!
Come plant your own organic baby BEANS and get your official signed BEAN certificate!
Enjoy Music by Sailhym, BEAN treats by Lily Toomey and interactive artwork with artist Lisa Fingleton.
To help make this event as greenBEAN as possible, you are welcome to bring recycled containers or loo roll holders for your BEANS.
Save the date 15-16th August for the Ballybunion Bean Festival
May all your BEANS come true this Ballybunion MOYA weekend!
See you Saturday
BEAN team
Apr 30, 2025 | News
Here’s the clip of Brilliant Ballybunion’s appearance from Wednesday, 16th April on RTE’s Home Grown for Brilliant Ballybunion and The Barna Way.
