It truly is a sight to behold and for the next few weeks the roads are sure to be busy around south Armagh.
For the now annual Ballymoyer Sunflower Festival is set to return from Friday and, with the glorious weather of late, it’s bound to be a blooming belter!
It is now three years since the event was first held, adjacent to St Luke’s Church on the Ballymoyer Road, raising thousands of pounds for some very worthy charities.
And this year will be no different, as organisers will support causes close to their hearts while also raising money for Ballymoyer Church of Ireland Parish Funds.
When parishioners Wilmour and Bernice Johnston first decided to plant a couple of acres of sunflowers back in 2022 they had no idea then of what a boost it would bring.
Their son, Ian, is now overseeing operations and is looking forward to the gates opening early this Friday morning.
He told Armagh I: “When it was first done, we lifted a lot of money, a lot more than we ever imagined or envisaged. We did it the second year and it took off again. We tried the third year and we had a bit of failure, bad weather and other things, unfortunately, so it didn’t happen, but then last year, we rerun it again and there was £7,200 that went to charities out of it.”
Add that to the close to £20,000 already raised during the first runs and it has been a phenomenal success.
But then again, everything is entirely voluntary, meaning all money raised will be donated and the community really does rally round in support.
“The local people love it. That’s the beauty of it,” said Ian. “It’s the best cross-community thing in the area that you ever saw.
“People come from everywhere. I joked this year we should get a bit of sponsorship from Fon-A-Cab. It’s crazy how many people come from Belfast and get dropped off at it. They come from Belfast, Antrim, Ballymena, Galway, Dublin, you name it, they’ll end up in that car park over the next couple of weeks basically coming to see a field of sunflowers.
“They just love the sunflowers, it’s very simple. We do it for parish funds and for charity. Everything else is donated, the help, everything, so everything goes to the funds and it works really well.”
This year, the sunflower festival will once again benefit Parish funds, as well as three causes which have a special significance to the Ballymoyer Church of Ireland family.
“We normally do the Air Ambulance as our main charity and we pick two other associated charities,” explained Ian. “Last year it was Cancer Research and Antrim and Craigavon Neo-Natal, because one of our parishioners had premature twins and they were looked after in the neo-natal unit.
“We would pick a couple of charities close to our hearts. Friends of the Cancer Centre, two years ago, was nominated by one of our parishioners, Elizabeth Frazer. Unfortunately, Elizabeth passed away just before Christmas. She was exceptionally well-cared for in Evora Hospice and that’s why we want to give a wee bit back to them as our principal charity in homage to Elizabeth.
“It will also go towards Rural Support, because of my father being a farmer, and the pressure on farmers locally, and Bravehearts NI, as my own daughter has a congenital heart defect and they’ve been really good to her over the years.”
The weather has been kind to the causes and ensured a bumper yield of around 600,000 sunflowers for 2026.
Many are close to six feet tall and some coloured flowers have also been planted near the gates to add to the spectacle for visitors upon arrival.
And it is those visitors who will hopefully make the event the success it has proven previously.
“The gates are open from morning to night, seven days a week, until the flowers are done,” added Ian. “The next two weeks it could happen, it could be over three weeks, I’ll just keep updating the Facebook page.
“There’s an honesty box at the gates. We’re up and down past all the time, we empty it, and at weekends it is manned. If there’s nobody there, on you go, there’s cutters on the gate, cut a couple of flowers, bring them home with you. That’s the way it is.
“We don’t ask anybody for an entrance fee. If they’ve only got 50p put it in and if they’ve got £50 put it in. We’ve had donations from £500 down. It does make a difference.
“Whatever it is, it goes to charity. All we ask is people to be as generous as they can afford and go and enjoy themselves. Most importantly, our slogan is go in through the gate, donate what you can afford, pick what you want and come out, most importantly, with a smile on your face.”
You can visit the Ballymoyer Sunflower Festival field, at 71 Ballymoyer Road, between Whitecross and Newtownhamilton, from Friday.
And to keep up to date, check out their Facebook here.
