Salmon of Knowledge festival goes green

‘Trim Salmon of Knowledge Festival’ has rapidly become a highlight end of summer festival incorporating a free festival of music, arts, crafts, sport, Irish language, workshops storytelling and dramatic performances incorporating the mythical story of the Salmon of Knowledge.

Set to the backdrop of Trim Castle the festival is a family event open to all age groups and abilities, this year there are lots of additions and changes to the festival. There will be a full programme of events for the festival and a dedicated day to incorporate climate change, sustainability, greening, mental and physical health and wellbeing, education and holisticism. The main events will be on Saturday August 24th after the Boyne Adventure Race (35k & 50k multisport adventure race – signup www.boyneadventurerace.ie) however the theme of the festival will run through both days with a highlight family event on Sunday 25th August.  

Michael Hughes, chairperson of organisers, Trim Tourism Network,  said: “Saturday evening will finish with a family movie which you can have your say on by selecting your favourite movie – ‘Into the West’ , ‘Eat the Peach’ or ‘The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns’ - at the Trim Branch of Drogheda Credit Union.”

 “Trim Tourism Network are delighted to be working with our local Trim Branch of Drogheda Credit Union which is the leading community financial institution in the Boyne Valley and that all of the local community and businesses are looking forward to another great festival”.  

Geraldine Gilsenan, chairperson, Drogheda Credit Union, speaking at the launch said: “‘The Trim Branch of Drogheda Credit Union is delighted to be the premier sponsor of the Trim Salmon of Knowledge Festival. It is with great pride that we continue our support of this unique community and family event bringing together people of all ages to celebrate and participate in all that is unique to Trim.”  
The festival hopes to develop as a leading green, health - wellbeing, sustainable, educational, holisticism, arts, crafts, food & music event in the Boyne Valley.  Emmet O’Connor from the festival team added that “Trim has a rich historic legacy and scenic beauty, but it is also home to an incredibly diverse range of artistic talent such as musicians, actors, poets, designers, painters, story tellers and much more. It is also home to a thriving archaeological community and tourism industry” and he is looking forward to helping deliver a high-class festival this year with all the additions.  

Linda Culleton, mental health expert and author, is thrilled to be bringing a full range of health and well-being activities to this year's festival that focuses on the mind, body and spirit connection.  

Linda published her first book ‘My Gratitude Journal’ for children in 2018 and is releasing this to the UK and US markets this year.

 After connecting with Trim Tourism Network at the Meath Business and Tourism Awards in 2018 Dan Glynn (DGPT) is delighted to be adding his professional skills to the 2019 festival and work together with the festival team saying that he is extremely excited for what is going to be an incredible event.

"Over the past year I have done a lot of wellbeing talks but this event will be the biggest yet where we will be discussing everything from nutrition, to exercise, to wellbeing and how it all interlinks as one framework and how you can apply it your own life. On the day we will have talks, classes and practical demonstrations for something for everyone and anyone who is interested in improving their overall health and wellbeing”.

Leas-cathaoirleach of Trim Municipal District Ronan Moore added: “It is great to see the Salmon of Knowledge Festival go from strength to strength, adding a second day this year. And it is a positive sign of the times to see how this second day reflects an even greener, cleaner and more sustainable element to proceedings, not to mention an added focus on wellness and positive mental health. What I believe is most inspiring is that the festival is not just content to try and become more environmentally friendly. It is trying to become a festival that will inspire others to become more environmentally aware and active, cleverly tying this into the wisdom of the Salmon of Knowledge. And in what I believe is a blue-print for other festivals to follow, through exciting and interesting stage performances, stalls and panel discussions throughout the Saturday, it is actively drawing solutions to these environmental and global challenges from the local community."
Cathaoirleach of Trim Municipal District, Noel French, is delighted to be part of the team delivering the festival saying that: “Trim Tourism Network are doing tremendous work promoting the tourism potential of the town and the entire Boyne Valley and the introduction of a second day is an indication of how successful this festival is. Health and wellbeing tourism is an area that is just being developed and I am delighted that our team within Trim Tourism Network are taking brave steps to develop this industry here in Trim and highlight its potential.  I am also delighted that the marriage between Race Around Ireland and the festival has been so successful leading to this international race continuing to start and finish here in our beautiful town”

Sunday’s itinerary, albeit carrying the same theme, will incorporate more music performances on stage along with a drama production, puppet shows and design workshops and demonstrations to engage families. There will also be live art at the foot of Trim Castle. Local food producers are invited to the food area and refill water stations will be provided. Hot drinks vendors will only serve out drinks in reusable drinks cups that are brought in or purchased on site while there will also be no plastic bottles for sale over the weekend. Sunday’s events include the start of Race Around Ireland – a non-stop cycling event for all level of cyclists, male or female, solo or team. People have been coming from all over the world every year for the last 10 years to take part in what has been listed as one of the “World’s Toughest Endurance Events”. Some people come back every year, others start as crew, then cycle as part of a team and the toughest of them go on to do it Solo.)   Sunday will finish up at approximately 6.30pm with a music performance.

 Vice-chairperson of Trim Tourism Network David Gorey is excited about the changes to the event saying that “from our first festival in 2017 we wanted to deliver a green sustainable event. In 2018 we explored this idea more and finally in year 3 we are ready to deliver a ‘green’ festival thanks to the support from Meath County Council environmental department and our new members of our team.  We are also grateful of the support from other departments within Meath County Council like Economic Development, Boyne Valley Tourism and Boyne Valley Food Flavours which we are delighted to work with to deliver a successful festival.   We are delighted to welcome new members to our original festival team, Emmet O’ Connor, Laura Murphy, Ronan Moore, Dan Glynn, Linda Culleton and Mary Rohan who are all willing to get stuck in to offer their professional expertise and deliver a success event”. 
The unique festival logo was designed by local designer/artist Barbera Mellerick who has been part of the festival team since the inaugural festival in 2017.  Barbera is also chairperson of Trim Drama Group and works on the production of the drama and musical performance for the festival with Trim Musical Society’s Gwen Bagnall who is also a member of the festival team.  
Trim Salmon of Knowledge Festival takes place  24th and 25th August 2019. If you are a stall holder / vendor and or you want to get involved please contact our festival team by email events@stayintrim.ie , contact the festival managers Michael Hughes 086 8820760 / David Gorey 086 3363043 or connect with any member of the festival team.