Buzzfest 2023, which took place last Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th in Phibsborough, brought together over 300 local residents, community organisations and businesses, at our Saturday garden party with sustainability and biodiversity stalls and a repair café, and our Sunday workshops on mini-pond building, and sustainable fashion, which included a clothes swap.
The weather was warm and dry as Minister Paschal Donohoe launched the garden party, which also featured a local DJ and trad band, ballet dancing from Miss Eileene’s school, face painting and a popular raffle, generously sponsored by a number of local businesses. St Peter’s parish refreshments, bric-a-brac and tombola were also there raising funds to support local people living in social isolation. The winners of the colouring competition were awarded by artist Fergal McCarthy, while the baking competition was judged by TU Dublin lecturers Mary Jensen and Ann-Marie Dunne, ably assisted by local presenter James Kavanagh.
We were joined by many wonderful local groups and businesses, including The Crepe Escape, LAWPRO, Connecting Cabra, DCC Regional Waste Management, The Dublin Commuter Coalition, Bohemian’s The Spark, Phibsborough For All, Forager Skincare, Vintage Clothing, the Royal Canal Amenity Group, Storyteller Richard Marsh, Royal Canal Honey, The Grassroots Guild, Phibsboro Mens’ Shed and the volunteer menders at the Repair Café who mended everything from shoes to toys to household items.
Phibsboro’ Village Tidy Towns also had in information stand about our activities, while our Biodiversity and Sustainability Groups both had stands outlining the work that they do thanks to the efforts of their volunteer members.
Fr Eamon Devlin of St Peter’s Church, who kindly hosted the event in the beautiful church gardens, performed a blessing of the bees, a medieval ritual which we keep alive to celebrate the hives PVTT keep in the garden.
Phibsboro Village Tidy Towns also launched an exciting new nature photography competition, more details of which will be posted on our website blog in the coming days.
The event concluded with a raffle with a host of prizes generously sponsored by local businesses, including DNG, The Knitting Room, The Bohemian Pub, Yeeros/Filo Café, Crafty Studio, Kennedy’s, S.P.Y. Hair & Beauty Salon, Kale + CoCo, O’Brien’s Wines, The Bald Eagle, Noms, Collis Pharmacy, Two Boys Brew, Elliot’s Bakery, The Hudson Rooms Café, Casa Mexico, CostCutter and Bang Bang.
On Sunday, The Grassroots Guild returned to provide a mini-pond building workshop at Villa Bank Garden, which was really informative, and showed how we can attract wildlife to even the smallest of gardens, while the sustainable fashion workshop facilitated by The Sustainable Life School in Panama Scout Hall was very enjoyable and helped attendees make more informed decisions at the subsequent busy clothes swap.
The Buzzfest committee would like to thank everyone involved in any way, small or large, for making Buzzfest 2023 such an enjoyable occasion.
If you have any questions or suggestions about Buzzfest, or you would like more information about PVTT or the Sustainability and Biodiversity Groups, or you would like to get involved as a volunteer, please contact us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or via email to phibsborotidytowns@gmail.com!
