If you have a taste for excellent food and drink, served up against a rugged Atlantic backdrop, you are in for a treat this autumn. The annual Dingle Food Festival takes place from Friday September 29th to Sunday October 1st, and you are cordially invited.
Where
The setting for this annual feast of delights is the town of Dingle, just 67km from Killarney’s Holiday Village. Perched at the edge of an ancient peninsula battered by Atlantic rollers and steeped in history, Dingle is the perfect location for a celebration of local cuisine.
What
The Dingle Food Festival is a not-for-profit endeavour, organised by a voluntary committee of local people and designed to benefit charities including Action Breast Cancer, Hope Guatemala, and Kerry Hospice. Donation buckets will be located at various points throughout the festival. Many of the events are free, and the rest charge a small fee to cover costs. A book of Taste Tickets (10 tickets cost €22) allows you to sample delicious treats from a range of local suppliers at venues as diverse as pubs and restaurants to galleries and shops.
Highlights
As well as the Taste Trail, there are workshops in everything from food as medicine, bee-keeping, and coffee to foraged food, nettles, and fermenting. Then there are the master classes in wine, whiskey, and gin—not to mention the great street entertainment, music, and fun for everyone.
If you would like to see how it’s done, attend one of the free cookery demonstrations in Benner’s Hotel. Culinary geniuses including Neven Maguire, Merrilees Parker, Takashi Miyazaki, and Jean-Marie Vaireaux will be demonstrating their skills at hourly intervals from 12 noon to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.
It’s not all about food either: Dick Mack’s pub will be home to a pop-up drinks academy, where you can learn more about Spanish wines from the Rias Baixas region at 1.30pm and 3pm on Saturday and Bordeaux-and-cheese pairings at 4pm and 6pm. On Sunday, it’s the turn of German wines, gin, and whiskey.
What about Kids?
Younger foodies are well taken care of, with the Scouts Café and Food 4 Fun workshops. Once they’ve had their fill of edible treats, there is falconry, Zumba, face painting, and music.
