WellFest 2018

Last Sunday I went up to Dublin for WellFest and it was such a class experience, it actually blew my mind.

WellFest is a health, fitness, and wellness festival where there are loads of different classes, talks, demos, products, and food stalls. This year it was held in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham grounds in Dublin and it was such a fantastic venue. The festival went over the whole weekend, Saturday and Sunday, but I just went up on the Sunday.

Okay not gonna lie, I got lost at least 5 times during the day ahaha but the venue and the whole set up was genuinely fantastic! All the different stages and tents and nooks and crannies were all very cool and nice to have a wander round.

Once I found where I was ahaha I headed straight to the 'WellFood' stage where The Happy Pear were doing a food demo. They made so many different things it was class, they made a 5 minute granola, pancakes, quesadillas, and a banoffee pie! They also spoke about their approach to overall health and how they prioritise movement/exercise and the community that they live in.

Dave and Steve are genuinely the soundest humans ever and I could listen to them talk about health and happiness all day. Feck it, they could be talking about paint drying and I'd still listen!

After their talk I was ridiculously inspired, they're just such inspiring people!

And I was quite hungry after listening to them talk about food, so I went and got a few bits to eat.

Last summer in this blog post I finally got to try a Kale + Coco smoothie bowl and it was one of the best smoothie bowls I ever had, so I was buzzinggggg to see that they were at WellFest at the weekend!

And what a perfect weekend to have one, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, I actually got sunburnt on the back of my neck ahahaha.

I went for the 'Classic Açaí', it was topped with granola, banana, strawberries, coconut, and edible flowers, it was divine!

Definitely check out their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you'd like to see hashtag smoothie bowl goalzzzzz! And check out their website for all your smoothie bowl and plant-based catering needs!

Oooh and if you're in Dublin check them out in the EatYard where they have their own stand!

I'm hoping to get up there this summer because everything they make looks beyond divine!

Aaaah then I met Faisal Abdalla! He's a trainer in Barry's Bootcamp, Personal Trainer, and he just released his book "The PMA Method" which I obvs bought and got him to sign! And he's Ellie Goulding's personal trainer too!

He was so sound and it was so cool to actually see him in real life because he's inspired me so much. Faisal's really passionate about fitness and his positive mental attitude (PMA) has helped me fall in love with exercise and he has helped me change my overall attitude towards life. Christ that sounds so cringey but it's true!

If you know me at all you'll know that I'm obsessed with kombucha, I think it's just absolutely fantastic! So I was delightedddd to find a new booch (and possibly my favourite booch, ooh la la!), KO Kombucha! Click here to find their website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

I love everything about this kombucha company, I love their vibe, they're quite minimalist and simple and nothing-extra-added because their product is class already!

And of course their kombucha is divine. I had a bottle of it at WellFest and I liked it so much that I bought all 3 different flavours and brought them home with me!

(They have 3 flavours: original, strawberry, and blueberry.)

I also really like that you have to open the bottle with a bottle opener, so it makes it seem like alcohol, if that makes any sense! I don't drink at all (maybe I'll do a blog post on it soon, I don't know, I'm basically just not interested in alcohol at all ahaha) so it's cool having to open the bottle with a bottle opener, like if you brought your kombucha to a party you'd blend in with all the 'normal' bottles if that makes any sense!

You can find a list of places that stock KO Kombucha on their website, sadly they aren't stocked in Cork yet but you can order online from their website!

Really really delish kombucha so if you get a chance to have some then definitely do!

The Happy Pear had a fab setup of their food truck and a really cool outdoor counter of all their dishes and wraps and cakes and bars, so of course I had to get something to eat from there!

I got a slice of their salted caramel tart and a coconut bar (basically a Bounty bar but 10 times nicer!) and I sat down on the grass with my snacks and my kombucha and had a little picnic for myself, it was lovely!

For most of the day I stayed around the 'WellFood' stage because there were really good demos on all day, and I got to see James Kavanagh and William from Curabinny make all cool bread and dips like a lovely looking beetroot hummus and some kale pesto too mmmmm.

Aaaaaand I got to see my favourite person ever, Roz Purcell! She's genuinely the coolest, kindest, funniest, most down to earth person I've ever met, I just think she's class!

I made her some snacks from her blog/books/YouTube (they're actually the best recipes ever like they actually work every time and they're divineeee!) and then during her demo in front of about 100-ish people (I'm not sure how many people were there but it looked like loads of people!), she just casually mentioned me and I. actually. dieddddd. like it was class.

So yeah I guess I'm famous now hahaha!

Thank you, Roz, you're a star!

I think it's safe to say that Near To Nature are my new favourite company everrrr! They were selling their bars at WellFest and their turmeric bar caught my eye. I was a bit unsure about how it would taste but oh my god it was divine!

So then of course I got one of each flavour!!!

They do a cocoa bar with pecans, a turmeric bar with cinnamon, and a hemp bar with coconut, and they're all amazing. I actually just finished off a turmeric bar while I'm typing this blog post haha!

All their bars are vegan friendly, gluten free, and produced in Ireland.

Make sure to check out their website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for more info about such a fantastic company!

A full list of where they stock their bars is on their website, but if you're in Cork defo pick some up in Natural Choice (upstairs in Paul Street) and Health & Vitality (Cornmarket Street)!

After the day of listening to people talk about food, watch people cook food, and eating and drinking as much as I could get my hands on, I was wrecked (and stuffed!).

WellFest was such a cool experience, I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in health/fitness/food/lifestyle because it was cool to see so many like-minded people and I learned a lot from it all.

And of course the food stalls are classsss!

Random fun fact about me: Trains are my 4th favourite method of transport so I was loving life going up and down on the train in the 1 day ahaha! (My favourite methods of transport, in order, are: Cycling, running, walking, train. Any other method of transport I'm not a fan ahahaha)

I can't wait to see what WellFest 2019 will have in store!

Big love,

Darragh