Blaze a trail as Kilkenny Trails Festival kicks off

Celebrate, explore and get active– hikes, bikes and so much more, from 1^st-29^th September!

The Kilkenny Trails Festival kicks off this Sunday 1^st and runs for the month of September, with a jam-packed and exciting programme of events designed to inspire you to get out and about, get active and get exploring the wonderful Kilkenny countryside.

A collaboration between Trail Kilkenny and Kilkenny Recreation & Sports Partnership, the Kilkenny Trails Festival is a month-long celebration with more than sixty events planned for September, there are trails and fun for everyone, featuring everything from heritage to harvests, paddling to picnicking, biking to bat-watching, scavenging to scones, and all culminating with the grand finale event The Harvest Picnic at Highbank Organic Farm on Sunday 29^th; a gathering   picnic with artisan food and craft market, heritage train and lots more fun on the farm!

Many of the events are free and where there is a charge they’ve been priced to encourage people to join in. Charges for Trail Kilkenny or KRSP events are simply to cover any costs.

Get active on one of the activity trails like the Hike and Bike to Bennettsbridge on Sundays during September leaving the Tea House at Bateman Quay at 11 and cycle to Bennettsbridge, leave your bike there and walk back into the city along the riverbank. Costs are €20 per person

If you have a bike in your shed and would like to get back on the road, join the Re-Introduction to Cycling workshops over 2 nights – call KRSP 056 779 4990 to book your free place.

Walk Challenges Start a walking habit on the ever popular City Fit Walk Series; starting this Monday evening at 7pm; meeting at Canal Square, opposite XtraVision.

For experienced walkers, there’s the challenging weekly walks with Tyndall Walking Club each Sunday; starting with Brandon Hill this Sunday, then Mount Leinster, Nore Valley Walk, Slievenamon and Mount Alto. A highlight will surely be the Brandon Moonlit Walk on Friday 20^th September. These walks are suited to teenagers (accompanied) and adults with reasonably high level of walk fitness. Meet at Kilkenny Cinema at 9.30am and car pool from there.

Explore and Picnic with the family in the woods and enjoy a free guided tree trail at Woodstock (Sunday 15^th) or Jenkinstown (Sunday 22^nd). Have fun foraging and join Mary White’s free taster tours at Kilkenny Castle on Wednesday evenings (4^th and 11^th) ay 6pm.

Discover stunning country estates with a Garden and History tour of Shankill Castle (€5 weekends), meet the Gardener and enjoy afternoon tea or join a walking trail at Mount Juliet (from €20 per adult/€10 child on selected Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays).

Try something new like Nordic Walking (Saturday 7^th September) Canadian Canoeing with Charlie Horan of Go with the Flow every Sunday for the month, €15 for children €20 adult. Orienteering in the Discovery Park (€25 on Saturday 14^th) or Guided Cycle Trails to Dunmore Caves (€23 on Saturdays) or along the Barrow Towpath (€15 adult €10 child on Saturday 21^st)

Pick up a copy of the Events Guide

Booking most events need to be pre-booked. You’ll find details in the Events Guide – pick up a copy in Kilkenny People office on High Street or from the Tourist Information office on Rose Inn Street and many other outlets. You can also view or download the Kilkenny Trails Festival Events Guide on www.kilkennytrailsfestival.ie

Many of the events are free and where there is a charge they’ve been priced to encourage people to join in. Charges for Trail Kilkenny or KRSP events are simply to cover any costs.

IN BRIEF

Don’t miss

this week’s free events

Brandon Hill Walk

Sunday 9.30am at Cinema

City Fit Walk Series

Monday 7pm 056 7794990

Re Introduction to Cycling

Tuesday 6pm 056 7794990

Incredible Edibles

Wednesday 6pm Tel: 087 2707189

Plan Ahead

Next Week’s Highlights

Meet the Maker City Craft Trail

Saturday 7^th 11am Ray Power 087 232 7743

Nordic Walking

Saturday 7^th KRSP 056 7794990

Cycle the Barrow Tow Path

Saturday 7^th11am Brian Roberts 086 408 4008

River Walk and Tea in Ballyduff House

Saturday 7^th 3pm €3 pp Eoin Hogan 056 775 2111

The Kilkenny Trails Festival runs this year from the 1^st to the 29^th of September, with a jam-packed and exciting programme of events designed to inspire you to get out and about, get active and get exploring the wonderful Kilkenny countryside.

With more than sixty events planned for the month of September, this year’s Kilkenny Trails Festival has something perfect for everyone – for families, groups of friends, solo adventurers, keen cyclists, experienced hikers, absolute beginners and complete newbies, and even the dog!

A collaboration between Trail Kilkenny and Kilkenny Recreation & Sports Partnership, the Kilkenny Trails Festival is a month-long celebration of everything special that Kilkenny has to offer, providing the opportunity to dip in and out of countless activities over the course of September. There are trails and fun for everyone, featuring everything from heritage to harvests, paddling to picnicking, biking to bat-watching, scavenging to scones, and those all the more welcome after a mighty afternoon in the fresh air!

From bat walks along the River Nore, foraging for wild food, an introduction to the history of the city beneath your feet, a chance to meet the gardener and tour the walled gardens at Mount Juliet, to visit master craftsmen in their studios or to start a walking habit on a City Fit Walk, and from the very tip-top of Mount Leinster to the depths of the Dunmore Caves, every aspect of Kilkenny that can be explored will be, during the Kilkenny Trails Festival this September.

Get introduced to orienteering, to earthenware or get re-introduced to cycling, try some Canadian canoeing, a moonlight walk or meeting some very important trees!

Enjoy some of the finest walks around, scenic, challenging, historic, adventurous, along the riverbank through the Nore Valley, along woodland paths, strolling leafy lanes or tackling exhilarating hill climbs.

Cycle through some of the most historic and culturally significant towns of the county, along quiet country roads, laneways and tow paths, visiting medieval monasteries, Anglo-Norman castles, Cistercian churches, 18th century bridges, all through the superbly scenic and heart-lifting surroundings of this gorgeous countryside.

Take part in an amazing activity trail, like the Hike & Bike, where you cycle out, then walk back along the river, giving you a whole new perspective on the countryside.

Pack a picnic and head off to one of the great picnic trail gatherings in Woodstock, Jenkinstown or at the amazing Harvest Picnic, the Grand Finale event of the Kilkenny Trails Festival with an artisan food & craft market and lots of family fun events at Highbank Organic Orchards, from 10a.m. till 6 p.m. on Sunday 29^th September.Can/should you mention some of events heritage train, cooking demos etc. here?

Lots of events have been designed specifically with families in mind, with some particularly suited to older children and some that are intended only for accompanied teenagers and adults. For safety reasons, dogs are not allowed at any festival events, except the one specially designed for them – the Dog Walk! Places are limited on most events, and many are free, so do make sure to book early so you don’t miss out. With something for everyone, at every level of fitness and experience, blaze a trail through Kilkenny this September with the Kilkenny Trails Festival!

The Harvest Picnic and artisan food & craft market is the final event of Kilkenny Trails Festival 2013, taking place in Highbank Organic Orchards at Highbank Farm from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday 29^th September.

The Kilkenny Trails Festival runs this year from the 1^st to the 29^th of September, with a jam-packed and exciting programme of events designed to inspire you to get out and about, get active and get exploring the wonderful Kilkenny countryside.

With more than sixty events planned for the month of September, this year’s Kilkenny Trails Festival has something perfect for everyone – for families, groups of friends, solo adventurers, keen cyclists, experienced hikers, absolute beginners and complete newbies, and even the dog!

The Harvest Picnic and artisan food & craft market is the final big day out during the Kilkenny Trails Festival for the whole family, bringing the Festival to a close with a massive gathering, a celebration of all the trails and a day of great fun, food and activities on Highbank Organic Farm.

Bring your own picnic, pre-order a Glasraí & Goodies picnic basket, or pick up picnic treats from the food market and join in the events of the day. These include a guided cycle from Kilkenny to Burnchurch, guided Heritage Train Tours of Highbank Farm – hear  tales of a princess and dueling gentlemen, bread, butter and jam making demonstrations from Anne Neary (Ryeland Cookery School), Breda MacDonald (ICA) & Edward Hayden (TV3 celebrity chef), mud workshops, pottery workshops, MADE in Kilkenny Craft demos, a 1.5m cycle track, cookie baking competition, the Highbank Heritage Walk, performances and art exhibitions.

The Kilkenny Trails Festival is a month-long celebration of everything special that Kilkenny has to offer, providing the opportunity to dip in and out of countless activities over the course of September. There are trails and fun for everyone, featuring everything from heritage to history, paddling to picnicking, biking to bird-watching, scavenging to scones, and those all the more welcome after a mighty afternoon in the fresh air!

With bikes available to hire on the Farm, entry costs €5 per car, and the Heritage Train Tour costs €4 per person or €15 for a family ticket. Book the train directly on +353 56 7729918, and order a picnic from Glasraí & Goodies on +353 56 7733799 or by mailing siobhan@glasraiandgoodies.com

The Harvest Picnic and artisan food & craft market from 10am till 6pm on Sunday 29^th September in Highbank Organic Orchards at Highbank Organic Farm, Cuffesgrange, Kilkenny brings together and celebrates many of the strands of the Kilkenny Trails Festival – food, craft, cycling, walking, history, nature and fun!

Out on Highbank Organic Farm, Rod and Julie Calder-Potts and the team are busy making final preparations for the Harvest Picnic which takes place on this Sunday 29^th September and the line-up looks really exciting.

The Harvest Picnic and artisan food & craft market is the final big day out of the Kilkenny Trails Festival, bringing the Festival to a close with a massive gathering, a celebration of all the trails and a day of great fun, food, craft and activities for all the family on the farm from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday 29^th September.

The idea is that you bring along your own picnic or pick up treats from the artisan food and craft market with more than 30 stalls, there’ll be all kinds of goodies to tempt you. Pick your own picnic spot or join one of the 40 foot or 20 foot long picnic tables in the courtyard. And just in case of rain, the picnic tables can be covered and the market stalls are in the stables under the arches of the yard!!

Get Hanking

There’s been interest from all over the country in the first ever National Onion Hanking Championships which takes place at the Harvest Picnic and you’ll be able to buy your onions, all locally grown by organic Riversfield, hank them for your winter store and enter into the championships.

Family Fun

Lots of readers may remember the years when Highbank had Christmas Trees and brought you on a magical train ride into the woods to pick your tree? Well, the train; Kilkenny’s first and the only train driven by a Ferrari tractor is back in action for Harvest Picnic and will bring you on a ride through the orchards and around the farm Cost for the farm train will be €10 per family. Rod will lead a special Heritage Train Tour during the day, giving an insight into the colourful history of Highbank, with tales of an Irish Princess and dueling gentlemen.

Children should really have a whale of a time learning to make their own floating candle or having a go at throwing a pot on a pottery wheel. There’s face painting too of course and Mini Beast Hunts on the farm; which are bound to delight and fascinate. Harvest Games sound like fun too – try a hand at ‘ring the pumpkin, squash skittles, bob the apple and find the ‘needle’ in the haystack! Budding bakers might like to enter Anne Neary, Breda McDonald and Edward Hayden’s Children’s Cookie Baking competition – they should bake their favourite cookies at home and bring them along on the day for Anne, Breda and Edward to taste during the free entry ‘Bread Butter & Jam’ demo in The Cooking Pit at 2-4p.m.

Blaze a Trail

There’s lots of activity on the farm too, starting with a free guided family cycle from Kilkenny City out to Highbank Orchards. Leaving from the Aspect Hotel (on the ring road near Woodies) at 12 noon, you’ll be guided and marshaled out the Callan Road for a leisurely, half hour (or so) cycle out to the Farm. The cycle is suitable for families and your bikes will be stored at Highbank for the day so that you can enjoy the rest of the activities there and cycle back at your leisure. If you’d like to hire a bike to join in, Kilkenny Cycle Tours are doing a special Harvest Picnic rate of €10 – call Jason 086 895 4961.

Out on the farm; you can hire a bike and take to the farm cycle track; or take the family on an orienteering challenge – head off with a map to explore the farm – through woodland, the oat field (now harvested and gone to Flahavans) and over double to ditches to pick up the clues from markers located around the farm – just bring your wellies.

Food and Craft Haven at Highbank

The Artisan Food and Craft Market at Highbank Orchards’ Harvest Picnic will be a great attraction with a wonderfully diverse range of stalls. Foodies will appreciate the great range of local produce with everything from Gerry O’Briens spiced beef, wild venison, Thomastown trout and caviar, award winning local cheeses from Stoneyford and Olivia Goodwillie’s famous Lavistown sausages. For the sweeter tooth there’s the temptation of Mary’s Slice of Heaven cakes, Highbank’s own hot mulled apple, cider and syrup and the perfect picnic ingredients from Glasraí & Goodies’ stall.

The creativity of our local craft makers will be on show at the Craft Market where twenty local craftmakers will be coming together. The range of craft disciplines from basketry to felting, candles to ceramics and millinery to woodturning is surely testimony to Kilkenny’s strong and thriving craft tradition. Some of the makers will be demonstrating their craft; Heike will be weaving in willow, Claire will showing how she creates her horsehair ceramics and others like Mud workshops and Melting Pot Candles will be offering workshops.

IN BRIEF

Don’t miss this week’s free events

Bat Walk along the River Nore

Wednesday 25^th September at 7.30pm at old Swimming Pool, John’s Quay

Meet the Maker Craft Trail Tour of Thomastown

Saturday 28^th September 2.30pm at Karen Morgan’s Studio

To book: Gus 056 772 4777

Mount Alto and Rory’s Hill with Tyndall Walking Club

Sunday 29^th at 9.30am at Kilkenny Cinema

City Fit Walk Series

Monday 30^th 7pm at Canal Square

Harvest Picnic – Grand Finale Event at Highbank Orchards, Cuffesgrange

Sunday 29^th September, 10am – 6pm

€5 entry per car