Pregnancy & Baby Fair plan was child’s play

The Pregnancy and Baby Fair is the hugely successful brainchild of two women who were confident enough to brave the Dragons’ Den, says Jonathan deBurca Butler

CORK City Hall and its environs are set to go ga-ga, and quite possibly goo-goo, this weekend when they host this year’s annual Pregnancy and Baby Fair. The two-day event, which started in the RDS in Dublin in 2009, is paying its third annual visit to Cork. It is pitched as “a one-stop shop for everything baby-related” and over 50 exhibitors from buggy retailers and nappy sellers to sleep doctors and nutritionists are lined up to feature.

“It’s a smaller show [than Dublin] because City Hall is the biggest venue we can get down in Cork, unfortunately,” says organiser and the fair’s co-founder Claire Finnan. “We would love to bring a bigger show because, as a community, Cork people are very generous and engaging, and as a result a lot of brands really love going down to Cork. I think they feel they have more time to spend with people because it’s a smaller show, so exhibitors get good value out of it. We also find that when we’re giving out goody bags and the like they’re a bit more grateful.”