HedgeRow Fest 2026 taking place this weekend in Offaly
HedgeRow Fest 2026 takes place at Mount Briscoe, Daingean, Co. Offaly, R35 N729, on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September
This weekend, Mount Briscoe will become a meeting place for nature, farming, art, poetry, music, traditional skills and wellbeing when HedgeRow Fest 2026 takes place on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September.
The festival opens on Friday evening, 6–9pm, with Wild at Mount Briscoe: A Walk, Talk & Supper — an immersive evening exploring the wildlife, farming and creative life of the Mount Briscoe landscape.
Led by author and hedgelayer Richard Negus and conservationist and birder Mark Nowers, with Farming for Nature Ambassador Margaret Edgill, artist and master basketmaker Lynn Kirkham, and poets Philip Brady and Sean Smith, the evening combines stories, wildlife, art and poetry with a special dusk moth ramble. The evening finishes with a supper prepared using organic produce from Mount Briscoe Farm.
Saturday's programme offers a full day of ways to discover the hedgerow, from a morning bird walk and moth-trap identification to yoga, nature journalling, poetry, traditional hedge laying, weaving, foraging and field walks.
Visitors can learn about the importance of hedgerows for wildlife during the Hedgerow Safari with Richard Negus and Mark Nowers, discover traditional skills at Richard Markham's Hedge Laying Master Class, and explore the edible landscape on a Wild Foraging Walk with Wild Food Mary.
Creativity runs throughout the day, with Lynn Kirkham's drop-in weaving, Joyce Fitzpatrick's Nature Journalling, HedgeRow & Poetry Walk with Ricky Whelan and Philip Brady, and Aileen Lambert's Songs of the Hedgerow and Folklorist, Michael Fortune.
There will also be opportunities to pause and reconnect through Sound Bath & Meditation with Fuaim Na Croí, while Words from the Hedge with Richard Negus brings stories and reflections inspired by the landscape.
The festival closes with The Delmaine String Quartet presenting The Company of Trees: A Celebration in Words & Music, bringing together the themes at the heart of HedgeRow Fest: landscape, creativity, community and our connection with the natural world.
At its heart, HedgeRow Fest is about seeing the familiar differently. Ireland's hedgerows are more than field boundaries: they are living habitats, wildlife corridors, sources of food and materials, and places filled with history, memory and inspiration.
HedgeRow Fest brings together people from farming, conservation, ecology, traditional crafts, literature, music, art, food and wellbeing for a unique experience in the landscape of Mount Briscoe.
HedgeRow Fest 2026 takes place at Mount Briscoe, Daingean, Co. Offaly, R35 N729, on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September.
This project is proudly supported by Offaly County Council through the Creative Ireland Community Grant Programme and the Heritage Council.
Full programme and information:
mountbriscoe.ie/hedgerow-festival-2026