2016 Rose Festival

FROM Jul 16 TO Jul 17

Check out the Wildlife and Good Life of Dublin at the Annual St Anne’s Rose Festival which will consist of wildlife experts and community food growers who will host interactive displays on native Irish wildlife, urban birds, seaweeds, sea shells, lizards, bees, pollinators and invasive species. Free identification packs to take home.

View live honey bees in action at the Fingal North Dublin Bee Keepers Display Hive. Hear about Urban Food Production from the newly planned Dublin City Farm. Information stands on Dublin Bay Biosphere and Dublin City of Biodiversity. Get on your bike to save the planet and check out the latest in eco-products up cycling and recycling at the Rediscovery Centre Eco-Tent.

Buzz around to Bí Urban, a community activation project in the North West Inner City which is developing a green economy based on apiculture and which is encouraging citizens to connect and learn from Nature in an urban context. Touch, feel, taste and smell their honey, skin care, and food and health products. Discover the wonders of all pollinators in the city how to give them food in wildflower meadows. Be not afraid of swarming bees but catch them in a Bait Hive so that they survive the winter and can be re hived. This project will show you how they have transformed Broadstone Park with their educational apiary.

Get ready for your next trip to the beach with Coastwatch. Wow your friends by becoming a seashell (marine molluscs) expert. Learn to identify with confidence Sea Shells typically found on the beaches of Dublin Bay using the Free Dublin Coast Seashell Guide. Coastwatch volunteers and marine biologist Karin Dubsky will guide you in the wonders of our coastal habitats and how you can play your part to protect them.

Join Dublin City’s answer to “Crocodile Dundee” in the form of volunteers from the Herpetological Society of Ireland will show you native frogs and lizards and will enthral you with the wonders of reptiles and amphibians. No need to kiss a frog to become enchanted!

Be inspired by “Leave no Trace” to enjoy the outdoors responsibly as you Festival Hop and Bop this summer. Get the latest on responsible camping, walking dogs, disposing of waste when you have no bins, being around wildlife, walking on trails and keeping safe in the great outdoors. Learn about the time it takes for “stuff” to go back to nature.

Participate in fun activities and games based on the Biodiversity of St Anne’s and North Bull Island Be inspired by stories told by nature experts on the of the and turn natural materials into Biodiversity Sand Nature collage and Seashell sculptures. Participate in Biodiversity Floor Game, a new take on monopoly, build up a stock of nature as important as houses and money ! Roll a dice in Biodiversity Snakes and Ladders. Learn to build campfires with Leave No Trace.

Make sure to visit the Dublin Bay Biosphere stand!

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Guided Wildlife and Good Life Tours

There will be a fantastic programme guided tours on the half hour from 10 am until 4.30 pm on a variety of topics including:

  • Irish Wildlife Trust tour to the tree carving by Tommy Craigs with explanations about the wildlife depicted and where you would find it in Dublin Bay Biosphere.
  • Insect Hunt and Tree Trail with Global Action Plan: Use pooters and bug jars to explore, capture, discuss and release the many amazing creatures that live in the woods of St Anne’s there. Identify the trees and hear about their importance in Irish history and mythology.
  • Bird walk with BirdWatch Ireland through the woodlands and to the Ponds.
  • Butterfly, bees, bugs, wildflower spotting to the Chestnut Meadow with Rediscovery Centre (Sat Only)
  • Exploration of Marine Biodiversity with Coastwatch to a sheltered shore on the edge of the Causeway North Bull Island with Free identification guides on Dublin Coastal Sea Shells of to take home.
  • Practical demonstrations on how to enjoy the great outdoors in a responsible way with Leave No Trace who will bring people on a trail walk and demonstrate how to walk on the wild side in a kind way for nature.
  • Guided interpretation of medicinal herbs in the Physic Garden with the Irish Herbalist Society
  • Bumblebee walks with Bi Urban to the Herbaceous Garden and Physic Garden
  • Walks on the Follies and Park’s historical links to the Guinness family and its current place within the Dublin Bay Biosphere with Dublin City Council Biodiversity Team
  • Guided Tours to St Anne’s Walled Garden Allotment and Bee Hive. Voted Best Dublin Community Allotment in Tidy Neighbourhood Competition 2014, 2015.