Structuring an agritainment activity: lessons from Ireland

5 October 2026

Module 1 of the Green Agritainment course, “How to structure an agritainment activity: practices and suggestions”, was prepared in Ireland by the University of Galway with Shannon College of Hotel Management. Its six lessons cover visitor engagement, operational planning, marketing, sustainability and community, plus two filmed visits to Irish attractions.

Design for engagement

The starting point is what visitors want: most relish a hands-on experience, especially those coming from towns and cities. Suggestions from the lessons include:

• inviting visitors to help with the harvest and talking with them about greener practices, such as reducing chemicals to protect pollinators;
• opening with a few easy questions or a quiz to find out what visitors already know;
• adding fun through a corn maze, a petting area or a farm-to-table explanation of where food comes from;
• planning safety and accessibility from the start, including low-noise, low-sensory options.

Build an operational plan

The lesson asks operators to walk through the experience beforehand and look at the farm through the eyes of someone not used to it. The plan covers staffing and visiting times, visitor flow (a bus of 10 to 20 people is not the same as one family), a risk assessment, first aid, never leaving visitors unaccompanied, realistic budgeting that includes the farmer’s own time, seasonal demand, staff training that goes beyond a memorised script, and contingencies for illness or emergencies.

Market through stories

Marketing focuses on identifying target groups such as families and school groups, using social media (an Instagram channel run from a phone) instead of printed flyers, and telling the farm’s own story, for example several generations on the same land. Seasonal campaigns at Christmas and in school holidays, invitations to come back in another season, and simple feedback and social media metrics complete the picture.

Sustainability and the local community

Visitors are interested in how the farm reduces waste and fossil fuel use, for instance through composting or solar panels. The lesson also suggests showcasing products of other local producers, supplying local restaurants to shorten food miles, and bringing small parts of the farm, such as chicks, to people in elderly care facilities who cannot visit.

Two Irish examples

At Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, the operations manager explains how “animators” play the roles of farmer, teacher or postman without a fixed script, use humour with visitors, and run lamb feeding for children. At St Tola Goats Cheese Farm, tours are now booked in advance because unannounced visits interrupted cheese making. A tour moves from the history of cheese making and goats in Ireland to meeting the goats and a cheese board tasting; the most positive comments come from small, informal groups.

Module 1 is free in the Green Agritainment digital course, with video lessons, slides and transcripts. You can start from the course in English or open the Module 1 course materials directly.

Green Agritainment – VET strategies for Edutainment in European Agritourism. Project number 2024-1-IE01-KA220-VET-000254134. Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.