The annual Burren Winterage Weekend festival will take place this year between Wednesday 26 October and Sunday 30 October in Corofin, Co Clare and various locations across the Burren region.
The festival aims to celebrate ‘winterage’, the ancient and unique farming practice of out-wintering cattle in the Burren.
This year’s event is co-ordinated by local landscape charity The Burrenbeo Trust and will feature a wide range of farming, heritage, and cultural events.
Events will include Burren farm walks, a ‘Tea Talk’ on farming and archaeology and a day-long ‘Burren Winterage School’ on the theme of education for sustainable development in rural areas.
There will be a ‘Farming for Nature’ networking day and the national ‘Farming for Nature’ awards. Book reading and discussions with bestselling authors including James Rebanks and Jane Clarke will also feature.
For those really looking to get stuck in there will be a butter making workshop and a “transhumance” cheese tasting experience.
Cattle drive
The flagship event of weekend, the community ‘cattle drive’ will see hundreds of people join a local farming family in herding their cattle to the upland winterage pastures. This drive will take place on Sunday 30 October.
The ‘Burren Food Fayre’ will occur simultaneously to the cattle drive. The event organised by the Burren Eco-tourism Network will offer a chance to all attendees to ‘taste the Burren’ through food samples from some of the best local food producers.
Celebration of farming
Manager at the Burren Programme and one of the event organisers Brendan Dunford said: “The Winterage festival is as good as it gets in terms of an authentic, intimate celebration of our farming heritage in Ireland.
“At its core is the ancient practice of ‘transhumance’ – the seasonal movement of livestock – whereby Burren farmers sustain an ancient tradition that is also key to conserving the region’s famous flora and fauna.
“Transhumance is practiced all over the world so the cattle drive is a nice way to connect with rural cultures and landscapes everywhere. We’re delighted this year to welcome farmers, scientists and policymakers from all over Europe to join us in this festival of learning and celebration, in particular our ‘farming for nature’ ambassadors from Ireland, Lithuania and Austria.
‘Agricultural tradition’
Local farmer and community leader Michael Davoren described the cattle drive as an “agricultural tradition that is thousands of years old”.
“It is thought that Burren farmers initially adopted this practice in response to the shortage of water in summertime, only to find that the warmth of the limestone and the ample grazing on the rocky winter pastures made the Burren an ideal, low-cost ‘outwintering’ environment for their stock,” he said.
Places are limited for all events and will require pre-booking, according to organisers. More information is available here.
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