Bishop hosts Family Picnic in Punchestown next weekend
The Kildare and Leighlin Diocese is holding a Family Picnic in Punchestown on Sunday, August 27.
The event takes place from 1pm – 6pm and there will be lots of family fun and live entertainment for all.
Bishop Denis Nulty has invited people from all across the Diocese to the Picnic.
The Bishop will also be leading a 2km fun walk around the track
The picnic is part of diocesan preparations for next year’s World Meeting of Families and is also an attempt to reach out to all families of the diocese and to gather them together for an event filled with fun, friendship and faith!
Families from all 56 parishes in the diocese have been invited to the picnic by Bishop Nulty. They have been asked to bring along their own picnic with a bit of extra food for a sharing table for those who maybe don’t have enough to eat.
A special invitation has been issued to the families living in the two direct provision centres in the diocese, in Newbridge and Portlaoise, and also the refugee centre in Monasterevin. The diocese will be putting together special picnic baskets for these families.
The family picnic will take place at Punchestown Racecourse on Sunday 27 August from 1.00pm until 6.00pm, with the official opening liturgy at 3.00pm. Bishop Denis will lead a 4km fun walk around the race track and there will be face-painting, children’s disco, stilt walkers, a pet corner and lots of children’s activities and games.
There will be a display of UN vehicles from the nearby Curragh camp with military personnel on hand to share stories about the Irish contribution to the UN peace-keeping force.
Music for the event is being organised by Margaret Connaughton and Father Liam Lawton and will include local choirs and some very special surprise guests including Irish country music star Derek Ryan and renowned Irish soprano Celine Byrne.
Admission to the event is completely free.
Speaking ahead of the event Bishop Nulty said, “We all liked going on a family picnic years ago and I think we don’t do enough of it now, because we spend more time on phones and on the internet and spend less quality time with one another.
“With this family picnic we want all families to feel welcome, this is an event for every age and its clear intention is to build up the sense that we are a Church out in the field. It’s a bringing together of people, all people, all families. You might ask what family you belong to, you are a valued member of the Diocesan family.”
You can find out more about the picnic on www.kandle.ie and by following the #picnicinpunchestown hashtag on social media.
The World Meeting of Families is hosted in a different location every three years; the most recent being Philadelphia in September 2015 which was attended by Pope Francis. Whilst WMOF2018 will include exhibitions, cultural events and musical performances, events around the city, gestures of solidarity, it will be hosted in Dublin from 21 to 26 August 2018.
The Kildare & Leighlin event marks exactly one year to the closing Mass of the WMOF2018. See www.worldmeeting2018.ie.