SAVOUR KILKENNY 2010
Wednesday 01 September 2010
MOUTH WATERING LINE-UP FOR SAVOUR KILKENNY 2010!
· 4th Kilkenny Food Festival to be the biggest and best yet
The majestic walls of Kilkenny Castle will form a spectacular backdrop for the 4th annual Savour Kilkenny Food Festival which takes place in the historic city over the October Bank Holiday weekend.
This year’s festival will be biggest and best yet benefitting from the appointment for the first time of a Festival Manager, Claire Daly, who has worked with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The new Parade Plaza in the heart of Kilkenny will be home to a tented food village which will be buzzing with stalls where you can taste and buy the very best of food from Kilkenny producers, restaurants, hotels, cafes and chefs.
A large marquee will host workshops, cookery demonstrations by celebrity chefs, tastings and entertainment throughout the festival weekend from October 22nd to 25th.
Small, affordable tasting plates will be available for food lovers and visitors to buy and enjoy as they wander through the stalls. The tented food village will be the very first major showcase event on the new Parade Plaza which is a welcome addition to the city.
Stalls will be offered by the Savour Kilkenny committee at a nominal charge and hotels, restaurants, cafes, cookery schools, chefs and shops from the city and county are advised to reserve their space as soon as possible by emailing info@savourkilkenny.com
The event will give people a chance to appreciate Kilkenny's heritage, culture and personality through its food, with something for all the family. As well as events on the parade plaza restaurants and eateries will come alive with artisan tastings, cookery demonstrations and special menus. It will be a countywide festival with events in Castlecomer, Thomastown and Callan
Last year’s festival included a mediaeval banquet, paella parties, wine tastings, sustainability talks, Thai cooking, pizza making and much more. Full details of what the Savour Kilkenny chefs are cooking up for this year will be revealed in early September. The programme will include a new feature which will be a World first for Kilkenny!
There will be a strong focus in this year’s programme on children with a Young Producers Food market, a Ready Steady Cook challenge, a Young Chefs competition, fun family lunches, quirky cupcake icing, healthy lunchboxes and much more.
One of the festival themes will be “From Farm to Fork”, tracing the life cycle of our food.
Kilkenny is already well on the way to becoming the food capital of Ireland. In April the Taste of Kilkenny Food Trail was launched, with 38 food producers throughout the county taking part. Savour Kilkenny will work closely with the Kilkenny Food Trail encouraging people to explore how and where Kilkenny's food is made.
The festival will also by liaising with local heritage, arts and crafts organisations to bring a truly creative edge to the event.
Festival Manager Claire Daly has worked with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as its Operations and Retail Manager, has a background in marketing and business consultancy and is passionate about food.
“I am very excited about Savour Kilkenny. There is so much potential with the festival and I firmly believe Kilkenny will become the premier food centre in the country”.
Claire said there are huge opportunities to use the flourishing food industry to boost local tourism and she is looking forward to planning a food festival that will truly put Kilkenny on the map.
Ger Mullally, Chairperson of the Savour Kilkenny Festival, acknowledged funding of €70,000 for this year’s Festival from Kilkenny Leadership Partnership.
“We are absolutely delighted to have secured this significant grant from Kilkenny Leader Partnership which is essentially an investment in the food businesses of Kilkenny. We're confident that our programme for this year's festival will not only help to secure jobs in Kilkenny's food sector, but will proactively develop it by marketing our wonderful food culture and produce to retailers, tourists and food-lovers throughout Ireland and the rest of the world."
Siobhan O Dwyer, of the festival committee, said the latest figures show that €5bn per annum is spent on imported food in Ireland.
“Just imagine the impact if we switched a mere 10% of our weekly spend to support local produce. We hope that Savour Kilkenny will start a powerful grassroots
movement to value and support our own locally produced food."
She said the committee were also grateful for the great support of Failte Ireland
and the generous sponsorship of Glanbia and Pallas Foods.
Declan Rice of the Kilkenny Leader Partnership said Savour Kilkenny is the next big festival and will have potential to be as influential as the comedy festival. It will also have a huge impact on rural communities and enterprise in Kilkenny.
"We are absolutely delighted to be associated with it and wish it every success" he added.