The third Galway Food Festival programme of events was announced this week at the House Hotel by Jp McMahon, chairman of the annual event. The five day family-friendly festival will celebrate Galway as a good food destination from Thursday April 17 to Monday April 21 during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
More than 100 restaurants, food outlets, and food producers will participate and more than 70 individual events, food demonstrations, and talks will be held throughout Galway city and its environs, including the Festival Village at the Spanish Arch, which will open from Friday April 18 to Sunday April 20 from 10am to 6pm each day.
Celebrating food traditions, the festival will promote Galway as the food capital of Ireland, with a strong focus on local and west of Ireland producers, produce, and products, and highlighting the importance of food provenance, sustainability, and healthy eating. It will encourage and promote increased trade for local food outlets and their suppliers with a strong Galway, west coast, and Wild Atlantic Way flavour.
New to 2014 is a ‘taste trail’, where food outlets will offer a small taste of the west (linked with a local producer ) at a special price of €2, which will take place on Saturday April 19 and Sunday April 20 from 2pm to 5pm.
Visit city centre outlets and experience an array of in-house events taking place throughout the festival that include; Celebrating the Best of the West Coast, baking demonstrations, wine tasting, food pairing with cocktails, smoking fish, lunchtime comedy gigs, Marche in the Market – A Galway Food Tour, the Wine Goose Chase, westend street food and silent disco, Irish cured meat, The Farmer’s Larder, and the Paleo Dinner Party.
Additional in-house events include; The Whole Hog, Chocolate Afternoon Tea, Spanish Wine Tasting, A Taste of Our Land, Sea and Earth, Cooking Thai Style, Coffee Cupping with Ponaire Coffee, Bearna Lobster Celebration, Pick Up A Pincho, An Appreciation of Connemara Shellfish, Healthy is the New Sexy – Cookery Course, Taste of Galway, A Pig on A Spit, Craft Beer and Cider - Talk and Tasting, Fine Wine Tasting, Venetian Street Food, Talk – Art, History, and Food and Chinese Dumpling Making.
Cookery demonstrations will take place hourly from 10am to 5pm from Friday to Sunday at the Festival Village Demo Tent, Spanish Arch, and will include; Food and Science for Kids, Cooking The Perfect Steak, Cooking with Seaweed, Entertaining at Home with Oliver Dunne, When Craft Beers Meet Local Seafood, The Chicken, The Cow and The Pig, Cooking with Seafood, and Japan’s Soul Food.
Additional cookery demonstrations include; Local Produce and Seasonal Wild Foods, Raw Bites and Vegan Delights, Un Oeuf Is Enough, An Introduction to Thai Cooking and Preparation, Shellfish Made Simple, Slow Food – Local Produce and Seasonal Wild Foods, Venetian Tapas; An Introduction to Cicchetti, Make Your Own Fish and Chips at Home, Delicious Cakes, Fresh Local Sustainable Food, The Store Cupboard Gourmet; Impress Your Guests, and Modern Irish Cuisine.
A series of food talks to educate people about food will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane. Talks will include; Healthy Eating Out, Savvy Shopper – How Your Weekly Shop Can Make A Difference; How A Restaurant Works; and Women In The Industry.
Four open-air markets will run throughout the festival, including the Festival Village at Spanish Arch, the Galway Market will open from 10am to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, the Woodquay Country Market will make a welcome return on Saturday, and the Moycullen Market will open on Good Friday.
Families can savour the delicious array of foods available throughout the weekend along with plenty of family-fun food events for children including; Kiddies Pizza Making Class, Easter Cup Cake Decorations for Kids, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, Kiddies Easter Egg Hunt, Easter Sunday Lunch, and Kids Chocolate Masterclass.
View full programme details at www.galwayfoodfestival.com and follow the festival on Twitter on #GalwayFood2013 and on Facebook for all the latest news.
