DUBLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The 16th edition of Bord Bia Bloom, a national gardening and food festival in Ireland, opened here on Thursday, attracting a large number of visitors from home and abroad.

       This is the first time that the annual event has been held offline since it was forced to move online due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

       Irish President Michael D. Higgins attended the festival and announced the official kick-off of the five-day event, which is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors this year.

       A total of 28 gardens with various designs and sizes were displayed at the festival in addition to 17 nurseries and some 50 floral and botanical art displays.

       Bord Bia is an Irish phrase which means Irish Food Board, a state agency whose task is to promote the sales of Irish food and horticulture at home and abroad.

       In 2019, 115,000 visitors attended the festival and spent 874 million euros (940 million U.S. dollars), according to Bord Bia.