One of the highlights of this year's Galway Food Festival will be the taste trail of Galway, involving tours and excursions around the city and county, including explorations of the history of wild salmon fishery in Galway, visiting a range of different restaurants, and collecting seaweed along Silverstrand.
Sheena Dignam’s Galway Food Tours Around the Market presents a two hour culinary walking tour of Galway, discovering the city’s finest food destinations, meeting artisan producers, and uncovering local hidden gems along the way. These tours run throughout the Festival from 11.30am today, tomorrow, and Saturday, and 12 noon on Sunday.
Tomorrow, JP McMahon of Aniar and Cava Bodega, and chair of the 2016 food festival, will lead a Seaweed Walk, Talk and Forage at Silverstrand. Participants are invited to grab a bucket at this free event and join JP in discovering the fascinating natural edible delicacies of the Atlantic and learn how to incorporate them into home cooking.
On Saturday, festival goers can start the day by celebrating 100 years of The Wild Salmon Fishery in Galway city with Eoin Warner and the Galway Fishery Manager Séamus Hartigan at 11am. The tour begins at the Fisheries Tower, Wolfe Tone Bridge, with a tour of the now defunct eel and salmon traps; over to the Salmon Weir Bridge; and into the present day at the current fisheries. Tickets are €17.50 plus booking fee.
At 3pm, The Eat Galway Taste Trail will involve a gourmet journey of JP McMahon’s award winning establishments Cava Bodega, the Michelin Star Aniar, and Eat at Massimo. Tickets are €25. Early booking is advised as spaces are limited to 20.
The Food Tour of South Galway will feature tasting oysters at Kelly’s oyster beds in Clarinbridge; tasting honey straight from the hive by the Tribes Beekeepers; and a tour of the Kilcornan Apiary. Guests will enjoy a two-course lunch at the award winning Rustic Grub in Clarinbridge, featuring home-grown, seasonal produce, before the tour will conclude with the tasting craft beer pints from the barrel at Galway Hooker Brewery.
There will also be a tasting trail for Connemara and participants will fly to the Aran Islands, sample the award winning produce of Aran’s Goats Cheese, and discover the journey of production from farm to the finished product. A scenic drive around Inis Mór will be followed by lunch and a sampling of home baked cakes and treats, before the final stop of this unique tour, a trip to the Independent Brewery, to sample a range of beer inspired by the sea and Connemara marine life. Tickets are €125 per person and pre-booking is essential.
Other festival highlights will be the Galway Food Festival Village at the Fishmarket Square, Spanish Arch, from 10am to 6pm, Friday to Sunday, over the Easter Weekend. Galway Market trades weekly on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Woodquay Market returns to the Galway Food Festival on Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Moycullen’s award winning country market is open year round from 1pm to 7pm every Friday, and has won the Bord Bia Food Quality Award for three years in a row.
The festival runs from today to Sunday and is now in its fifth year. Galway also recently won the European Region of Gastronomy 2018 designation. For more information and booking see www.galwayfoodfestival.com Follow the festival on twitter @galwayfood or on Facebook Galway Food Festival.
