Behind the scenes with Bloom’s Orlagh Cunningham

Bloom requires plenty of planning – and teamwork, Orlagh Cunningham tells Andrea Smith.

If there’s someone who knows about planning, it’s Orlagh Cunningham, Bord Bia’s marketing events and brand activation manager. Yet even the bestlaid plans can be unexpectedly derailed, as Orlagh found out to her cost in 2009 when some cheeky ‘thieves’ broke into Bloom the night before it opened.

“We had a replica of Michelle Obama’s White House vegetable garden, and it was beautifully finished and all ready for opening day,” she recalls. “Some of the Phoenix Park deer broke through the fencing and ate up the lovely vegetables, and we had to scramble to re-plant most of it again the next morning. We laugh about it now, but it wasn’t funny at the time.”

It’s lucky that Orlagh is a calm and pragmatic person, because she has her hands full with the logistical behemoth that is Bloom. Yet she does it while travelling 30,000 to 40,000 miles per year, managing a combination of trade fairs, trade missions and buyer engagement events around Europe, Asia, Middle East and the US. “Being calm is a must, given the magnitude and volume of events going on simultaneously,” she laughs. “You also need eyes in the back and side of your head.”

A keen gardener herself, Orlagh grew up in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains in Cruagh, Rathfarnham. In those days, it was mainly farming countryside, and she spent her summers helping the local farmers with hay-making and strawberry-picking. On that basis, it’s no wonder that she loves working on events like Bloom and the Ploughing Championships.

She has worked with Bord Bia since its inception in 1994, beginning as a print and design coordinator and rising up through various positions to become marketing events and brand activation manager.

Orlagh heads up a team of six people, who work tirelessly to create a platform for Irish food and drink exporters to meet new customers and bring Irish food products to tables around world. “I’m very lucky to have such a committed and highly-dedicated team,” she says. “My lead project manager is Pauline Kennedy, who is a super planner and organiser of complex projects like Bloom.”

When it comes to Bloom, the logistics must be huge and complicated, but Orlagh takes it all in her stride. She attributes this, in part, to the experience gained and the tremendous learning curve embarked on over the past 12 iterations of the garden festival.

While she has Bloom on her agenda at all times, the broader events team become heavily involved from January onwards. They work with internal sectors and many external contractors and service providers, including the operations company, graphic and exhibition designers, construction contractors and catering contractors. “In a nutshell, we manage the design, manufacture and delivery of the look, feel and physical infrastructure and logistics for many areas of the event,” Orlagh explains. “These include the entrance and wayfinding features, signage and public information points, and all elements of the Bloom Food Village.”

Over 100 Irish food and drink producers have the opportunity to present and sell their products at Bloom, and Orlagh’s team manages the design and branding of each area of the village and the coordination of each producer’s individual requirements. This involves liaising with providers of electricity, water, storage, refrigeration and ice, and overseeing the set-up and presentation of individual market stalls.

It also means overseeing the design and build of the Quality Chef ’s Stage, managing and operating the Food Market Organisers’ Office, and looking after the staff volunteers who man the information points around the site.

Planning for next year’s festival will actually begin during this year’s event, when the events team will conduct a comprehensive evaluation exercise to identify what they could introduce, eliminate and continue. “We’re constantly looking at how we can develop and improve to keep the event fresh and inspiring for our visitors,” says Orlagh.

Despite having done the show so many times, she is hugely excited about this year’s offering. “The highlights for me are opening morning, especially if the sun is shining, and when the visitors, particularly the groups of schoolchildren, are really enjoying the festival,” she smiles. “My hopes for Bloom are that it continues to thrive, and that it will continue to be the ‘must-visit’ event of the summer.”

My lead project manager is Pauline Kennedy, who is a super planner and organiser of complex projects like Bloom.