Former Irish Rugby Team bagman, Patrick 'Rala' O’Reilly officially launched the 2016 Connemara Mussel Festival last Sunday at Renvyle House Hotel. Now in its 11th year, the seafood festival continues to get bigger and better each year.
Taking place from Friday April 29 to Sunday May 1, thousands of people are expected to visit the scenic village of Tullycross with an estimated €500,000 economic injection generated from the three day event. The weekend line-up will include an artisan market, where you can wander through the food and craft stalls and treat yourself to some of the finest local produce to be found in the area. The children can also join in the fun and take part in an interactive cookery lesson themed ‘Sugar Free’ as well as an art competition which involves using items found in the sea or along the shore. This year’s programme includes demonstrations of local seafood by west of Ireland chefs Jess Murphy of Kai Restaurant, Tim O’Sullivan of Renvyle House Hotel, and Michael O’ Meara of Oscar’s Seafood Bistro as well as talks from bee keeping and honey, to smoked salmon and Killary rope mussels.
If seafood is not your fare other activities include guided walks in Connemara's majestic scenery and talks on a variety of subjects, including organic vegetable gardening, local archaeology and other topics of particular relevance to the cultural heritage of the area.
For more information on the Connemara Mussel Festival, check out www.connemaramusselfestival.com
