Artists in Hedges: Hedgerow Fest, Ireland & Offaly's First Hedgerow, Literary & Wellness Weekend

On September 6th/7th 2025, visit Mount Briscoe Organic Farm, Co. Offaly for 'a visionary festival celebrating biodiversity, sustainability, and Ireland’s cultural landscape through art, ecology, and tradition'.

Mount Briscoe Organic Farm in Daingean, Co. Offaly, is proud to welcome Hedgerow Fest 2025 a groundbreaking, boutique festival dedicated to Ireland’s living landscape infrastructure: the hedgerows. Taking place on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September, this event marks Offaly’s first festival celebrating hedgerow ecology, culture, and wellness, aligned with National Hedgerow Week 2025.

The festival theme "Celebrating our hedges: a partnership with nature" brings together creativity, sustainability, biodiversity, climate action, and local heritage in an immersive rural setting. Hedgerow Fest offers a fresh, holistic perspective on the Irish countryside, inspiring reflection, creativity, and connection.

Mount Briscoe Organic Farm, a multi-award-winning, 100-acre working organic farm, is renowned for its pioneering approach to regenerative agriculture and nature-first land management. Under the stewardship of Margaret Edgill, a 2023 Nuffield Scholar in Agriculture and Tourism, the farm blends organic farming, biodiversity restoration, heritage conservation, and hospitality. This year alone, the farm has restored 480 metres of traditional hedgerows, alongside habitat diversification, ancient orchard revival, and native tree planting.

Festival Highlights

- Richard Negus, conservationist and professional hedgelayer, hosts hedgerow walks, live demonstrations, and readings from Words from the Hedge, showcasing hedgerowing’s vital role in biodiversity, wildlife corridors, and carbon capture.

- Testament (Andy Brooks), award-winning poet, rapper, and eco-poetry advocate, leads workshops and performs his unique eco-poetry, sharing stories from Strickley Farm, UK.

- The Company of Trees, in collaboration with the Delmaine String Quartet (Sun 7 Sept), presents a celebration of forest-inspired literature and music, reflecting on cultural and ecological ties to Ireland’s woodlands.

- Patrick Deeley, acclaimed poet and memoirist, reads from his new work Seeing Through Trees, exploring nature’s profound place in our lives.

- Hands-on workshops: nature journaling, forest bathing, wild food and mushroom foraging, hedgelaying masterclasses, art exhibitions, weaving, and curated film screenings, all blending wellness with ecological literacy.

"We want people from urban and rural backgrounds alike to visit Mount Briscoe, experience this living farm, discover the unsung champions of biodiversity, our hedgerows and begin their own creative and ecological journeys," said festival curator Margaret Edgill.

What’s On at a Glance

Saturday 6 September

  • Guided Hedgerow Walk with conservationist & professional hedgelayer Richard Negus
  • Reading: Words from the HedgeRichard Negus
  • Exclusive Poetry Workshop Testament (Andy Brooks)
  • Hedgelaying Masterclasses (hands-on skills & biodiversity benefits)
  • Nature Journaling & Forest Bathing
  • Wild Food Foraging
  • Art Workshops & Exhibitions
  • Family-friendly activities (incl. Forest School)
  • Film/Movie Screenings

Sunday 7 September

  • The Company of Trees A Celebration in Words & Music (Delmaine String Quartet)
  • Reading: Patrick Deeley Seeing Through Trees (new memoir)
  • Hedgelaying Masterclasses (continued)
  • Mushroom Foraging
  • Nature Journaling & Forest Bathing
  • Art Workshops & Exhibitions
  • Family-friendly activities (incl. Forest School)

Event Details

Date: Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 September 2025

Location: Mount Briscoe Organic Farm, Daingean, Co. Offaly (R35 N729)

Theme: Artists in Hedges Celebrating hedgerow biodiversity, habitat restoration, climate resilience, and wellness.

Tickets: Free entry; booking essential. Booking fee (€2) refunded upon attendance.

More info & bookings: mountbriscoe.ie/hedgerow-festival-2025 | tickets.mountbriscoe.ie

Supported by: Offaly County Council (Creative Ireland Community Grant) & The Heritage Council