IT’S SUMMERTIME, WHICH means it’s festival season: we’ve seen festivals like AVA, Forbidden Fruit, ATN, and Beyond the Pale come and go. But today marks the beginning of a slightly different type of festival – the Skerries Annual Wild Bee Festival. 

Kicking off this evening with the screening of ‘Plight of the Bumblebee‘, a new documentary concerning the world of bees and their connection to Irish religion, folklore, and biodiversity, the festival will run until Sunday evening. 

This year marks the fourth occurrence of the festival, which began in 2022.

Described as “a family-friendly event with bee themed crafts and activities for children as well as educational events and lectures suited to serious nature lovers both amateurs and experts”, it was originally put on by the National Biodiversity Data Centre (NBDC) in collaboration with Fingal County Council.

After its first successful outing, however, the centre had to move on from Skerries to spread the message to other parts of the country. 

Charles and Marion Heasman, a retired couple involved with the NBDC who describe themselves as “keen amateur naturalists and citizen scientists”, decided that although the NBDC had to “spread the love around the countryside”, they wanted the festival to continue in Skerries. 

“So we formed a group, and we’ve run the festival for the last three years, including this one, which is the fourth,” Charles told The Journal. 

The festival is run “on a shoestring”, but between small grants from the council and some local fundraising, the couple have been successful in making it free to attend – although this evening’s screening requires the purchase of a ticket due to the cost to put the documentary on. 

Charles Heasman Charles Heasman

Both 2023 and 2024 were slightly less well-attended than it had been hoped due to inclement weather, but with a brighter forecast for this weekend, the Heasmans are hoping for a turnout of a couple of thousand people. 

“When the NBDC organised the first one, it was fairly academically inclined for people that were already in the conservation field, as it were, and interested,” Charles said. 

“We make our festival much more family friendly.” The couple described some of the activities aimed at children on offer, including face painting, fancy dress, arts and crafts, among others. 

Marion said that they hope that their festival allows people to become more engaged in the ongoing climate crisis – but also to provide a lighter view.

“A lot of people get anxious about climate change and biodiversity,” she said, “and just having talks and being able to say, ‘well, hold on a minute. We can all do something little to help – don’t get too anxious’.”

Charles Heasman Charles Heasman

The weekend event, which is to be held at Skerries Mills, will feature activities for children, bird watching, talks from ecologists and botanists, walks around certain parts of the area to explore the local ecology, as well workshops. 

The local community garden, which the Heasmans are also involved in, is at the same site, which has “lots of bees” – including a threatened species of bumblebee that those involved in the NBDC’s work are trying to conserve. 

The Large Carder Bee located in the Skerries garden just prior to the festival in 2022 after efforts were made over a number of years to lure it in with the pollinator friendly garden. The NBDC has described Skerries as “leading the way in demonstrating how a local community can work together and take action”. 

You can find out more about the festivities here.