Sightsavers at Bord Bia Bloom Festival: pre-visit information

Welcome to the Pre-Visit information for Sightsavers’ Gairdín na gCéadfaí (Sensory Garden) at Bord Bia Bloom Festival 2022, which runs from 2^nd to 6^th of June.  We aim to provide you with some practical details about getting to the venue and around the sensory garden. This particular garden has been designed for people with a visual impairment to navigate independently.  However, the rest of the festival is not fully accessible, so we do advise you to bring a friend or family member to help you navigate your way to our garden.

Where we are

Bloom takes place in the Visitor Centre of the Phoenix Park, Dublin, which is situated on the main Chesterfield Avenue Road running from the main gate at Parkgate Street to the Castleknock Gate.  Please note that the Ashtown Gate will be closed for the duration of the Bloom event.

Guide dogs are welcome throughout the festival.

Opening hours

Bloom Festival is open from 9am to 6pm.

Public transport

There are a number of courtesy shuttle buses which will run from Park Gate Street to Bloom and back, from 8.30am to 7pm daily.

Luas: If you are planning to take the Luas, travel to the Heuston stop then use the free shuttle bus from Parkgate Street.

Train: If you are planning to take the train, travel to Heuston Station then use the free shuttle bus from Parkgate Street.

Dublin Bus: Routes 37, 38, 38A, 38B, 38D, 39, 39A, 70, 70D and 122 leave you to the Navan Rd, which is a 20-minute walk to the site. The 46a leaves you to the North Circular Road Gate, which is a 30-minute walk to the site.

Finding your way to us from the shuttle bus entrance

When you exit the ticket office, head towards the information centre, which is across the path diagonally to your left.  Walk past the centre, find the white iron fence on your right and follow it to where there’s an opening. Exit here and continue past the white marquee on your left, which houses the medical centre. Turn right at the T-junction: you’ll walk past a map on your left. Continue to the walled garden, which is in front of you: walk through and turn left, where you will find an exit. Out the other side of this exit you will find yourself in the vicinity of our garden. It’s across the pathway diagonally to your left and is distinct because of the tall wooden pillars that surround it.

Parking

Both the green and red car park have disabled parking, but the green park is by far the nearest to our garden.

Green Car Park B is the largest car park with extra entrances added for Bloom 202: serving both city centre / NCR traffic, north city & M50 traffic from the Castleknock Gate and White’s Gate. Once you enter the Phoenix Park, follow the signs for the Green car park.

Disabled car parking is available beside the entrance. Disability parking stickers must be displayed in a visible position to ensure stewards on site can direct visitors to the dedicated parking areas.

Finding your way to us from the green car park

Gairdín na gCéadfaí (Sensory Garden) is situated nearest the green car park entrance on the opposite side of the Victorian Walled Garden from the Visitor Centre. If you  walk through the green entrance to Bloom and continue straight until you see the walled garden to your right just after the Phoenix Cafe, you can walk through the walled garden, straight across and out the other side where you will find yourself in the vicinity of the Sightsavers garden. It’s across the pathway diagonally to your left and is distinct because of the tall wooden pillars that surround it.

Audio description

The audio description for this exhibition is accessible on your smartphone or iPad by QR code.  Don’t worry if you don’t have either: staff can lend you an iPad and help you if needed. When your visit in the garden has ended, please remember to return the iPad to a member of staff.

Toilet facilities

There are a number of toilet facilities, the nearest being outside the Phoenix Cafe, which is on your right if you are walking in from the green entrance before you get to the walled garden. If you’re coming from the shuttle bus entrance, standing in front of the walled garden, follow the wall around to your right and continue straight towards the Phoenix Cafe courtyard: the toilets are to the right just before the courtyard.  The toilets are unisex and have three cubicles to the left and three to the right.  The hand wash basins are in the middle of the back wall.

That concludes our pre-visit information.