Ireland’s newest Food festival will have three jam-packed days of cooking demos, talks, pop-up dinners, walks, producers’ stalls and activities celebrating the journey of good food from the soil and sea to your plate.
Ballymaloe Festival of Food, is on at Ballymaloe from Friday, May 17th to Sunday, May 19th this year! This is a celebration of 60 years of Ballymaloe House, as Myrtle Allen and her husband Ivan opened The Yeats Room at Ballymaloe back in 1964, with a clear message — one of sustainability, and a return to the roots of that original farm to table movement— with interesting and engaging talks from some key experts, producers and advocates telling the crucially important story of sustainable local food.
With wine tastings and cocktail making, all day dining opportunities featuring the best local and international talent, this weekend focuses on everything that is great and innovative about modern Irish food. From beekeepers, oyster farmers and cheesemakers to local whiskey distillers and artisan bakers, chefs from around Ireland and the UK will come together for a fantastic weekend of exploration and pleasure.
Sponsored by the Local Enterprise Office, South Cork, there is also an exceptional list of Irish food, drink and craft vendors at the Ballymaloe Festival of Food, some of the region’s finest artisanal producers, along with wonderful vintage, crafts and garden stalls. Be ready to be inspired and to take a little bit of the festival home with you.
What’s on?
New names have also been added to the interesting and eclectic list of speakers and chefs participating in the inaugural festival. Those new additions to the exciting lineup include award-winning food writer, cook and presenter from North London via Greek Cyprus, Georgina Hayden, chef from the Galápagos and co-founder of Firemade, bespoke fire kitchen-makers, Ana Ortiz, and Shivi Ramoutar, Caribbean-London cook and author, described by The Guardian as a “Caribbean food supremo”.
Also new to the lineup is Mark Anderson, culinary director of Gather & Gather, as well as Bristol-based chef Freddy Bird, an alumnus of Ballymaloe Cookery School, who brings his generous, unpretentious, and relaxed style of cooking from Bristol’s littlefrench and 1 York Place to a pop-up dinner in Ballymaloe House Hotel.
The full programme is available to download on the website, and there are events happening across the Grainstore Kerrygold main stage, the Woodshed Restaurant, Cook the Books stage, the Drinks Theatre, Change We Must stage in the Big Shed, the Food Emporium and special Guest Chef dinners in Ballymaloe House Hotel itself.
The Woodshed Restaurant pop-ups include Lee and Kate Tiernan of London’s Black Axe Mangal with Gubbeen’s Fingal Ferguson, as well as JP McMahon of Aniar and Nico Reynolds of Lil’ Portie. Guests on the demo and main stages range from Matt Tebbutt, host of Saturday Kitchen to Ross Lewis, Clodagh McKenna, Aishling Moore of Goldie, Rachel Allen in conversation with Marco Pierre White, Lily Ramirez-Foran of Picado Mexican and many more, including Ali Dunworth, Oisín Davis, Dee Laffan, Niall Sabongi, Michelle Darmody, Madeline McKeever, Graham Herterich and Rory O’Connell.
Speakers in the Big Shed on the Change We Must stage include Barrie Quinn of Portnoo Market Garden, Madeline McKeever from Seed Savers, Lisa Fingleton from Creative Solutions Food & Art and Chris Fahey of Wildflour, among others. Workshops are taking place all over the weekend with Karen O’Donohue of Happy Tummy, Sarah de Brun of Oysome, Laura Pusceddu from Bia Cultures and more.
Interested?
There’s something for everyone to enjoy throughout the weekend. An enjoyable, engaging and, most of all, delicious few days in the heartland of Ireland’s farm to table movement, there will be live music too, and there will definitely be dancing… Get your tickets today!
Weekend tickets for all three days are €65 per person, individual day tickets on Friday are €20, with Saturday and Sunday tickets for €25 per person, including the Cook the Book Demos, Drinks Theatre, Walks and Talks, Big Shed Stage, Food Producers area, and more.
Evening-only tickets on Friday or Saturday evening are €12, and the Woodshed lunches and dinners by guest chefs are €75 and €85 per person respectively. Children under 12 go free. There will be a shuttle bus from Midleton and Ballycotton to the festival and car parking is also free.
To get your tickets, visit ballymaloegrainstore.com.
