April Food Festivals & Events

Dublin Bay Prawn Festival

This great event runs from 25th-28th April in Howth. There will be cookery demonstrations, wine-tasting and prawn shelling competitions alongside a food village packed with food stalls and sampling opportunities and that is just during the day! The evening offers an opportunity to attend a Mystery Dine Around, sample the special festival menus in restaurants and pubs, watch the fireworks on the harbour and listen to in-house musical entertainment in Howth’s pubs. Click here for more information and here to see a blog post about last year’s event. 

Experience Japan Festival

This year’s festival has expanded to include a wide range of events and activities which will take place from the 4th - 21st April. There will be plenty of opportunities to celebrate Japan and Japanese culture with events taking place at a variety of locations around the city including Chester Beatty Library, Trinity College, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane and others. The main festival event, the Hanami (Cherry Blossom) Festival, is taking place this Sunday 7th April at the Farmleigh House & Estate in the Phoenix Park. See here for the current list of activities.

Slow Food International Grandmother’s Day

The second International Grandmothers Day Celebration 2013, “A celebration of Food Heritage and Forgotten Skills”, will take place on Saturday 20th and  Sunday 21st April at Sandbrook House, Co. Carlow.This weekend is a celebration of our food heritage and is dedicated to remembering and recoding lost skills & the precious inherited wisdom passed down by previous generations. Click here for more information. 

West Waterfood Festival of Food

Heading into its seventh year, this festival celebrates the richness and diversity of Ireland's food culture in a community setting. Think sharing picnic baskets, foraging for fun in the woods or clamouring over the rocks on the beach to find a bucket-full of seaweed and you get a picture of what type of events are on offer. This festival runs from the 11th - 14th April. Visit here for event listings. One of the events is A Wine Goose Chase which is a one woman performance and which fuses interactive wine tasting with storytelling in a warm intimate setting. I saw this at the Fringe Festival last year and if you can get a ticket it is well worth going to.

If you would like to have your food event or festival added please contact Kat at thepurplepageireland (at) gmail.com. Dates are always subject to change so please check the event website before getting all geared up to go out!

Celebrate the Wisdom: Slow Food International Grandmother’s Day

“A celebration of Food Heritage and Forgotten Skills”

Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st April 2013 - Sandbrook House, Co. Carlow

Slow Food International and Sandbrook House are delighted to deliver the second International Grandmothers Day Celebration 2013. This year they are back and bigger than ever with a two day event in Sandbrook House.

The weekend is a celebration of Ireland's food heritage and is dedicated to remembering and recording lost skills & the precious inherited wisdom passed down by previous generations.

Saturday 20th April – An International Symposium

This international expert led symposium will have a focus on education; exploring how our food heritage can create employment for this generation.

Slow Food has invited all the Institutes of Technology across the country to come together for a major symposium to grapple the issues facing artisanal food production, the supply chain and rural employment. Join them as they investigate “How can we learn from our Food Heritage to create employment for this generation”. Hear leading Irish & European experts speak on conservation and forgotten skills. They will close the evening with a traditional Fullacht Fiadh – a one of a kind reproduction of the traditional Irish cooking method.

Sunday 21^st April – Grandmothers Day

“Calling all grans and granddaughters, grandas and grandsons, nonnas and daughters, mamós and sons!”

Sunday 21^st April is Slow Food Grandmother’s Day at Sandbrook House, giving families the opportunity to spend time together dedicated to remembering and recording lost skills, and the precious inherited wisdom passed down by previous generations.

Grandmothers Day is  all about supporting and showcasing artisans and our local food producers.  On this day food lovers, food producers, chef & farmers, along with food and drink suppliers will come together at Sandbrook House to celebrate Slow Food and Forgotten Skills.

Food producers, chefs, farmers and artisans will come together to celebrate good, clean and fair food, the Slow Food way, with almost 50 different exhibitors, terrific treats to sample, interesting stories to hear, talents to admire and skills to watch and learn.

Grandmother’s Day at Sandbrook will be opened by Ballymaloe’s Darina Allen, Slow Food pioneer and President of Slow Food Ireland, who will give the keynote speech at 12 midday and will later do a cookery demonstration of some of her most cherished almost forgotten skills.

Demonstrations and experiences will include butter, cheese, sausage and chocolate making, chicken keeping, wild food foraging, lace making, willow weaving, bee keeping, candle making, and throwing pottery, as well as a selection of food-focused skills. There will also be a café stalls and a bustling farmer’s market, showcasing finest local, traditional and handmade produce including, organic meats, farmhouse cheeses, vegetables and salads, handmade pasta, artisan breads, wood fired pizzas, local honey and chocolate truffles.

Grandmothers are invited to bring along their own favourite recipes that they would like to pass onto their grandchildren for Slow Food to compile a special recipe scrapbook.

As well as new (old) skills to appreciate, Grandmother’s Day has other fun things to do for children of all ages, from face painting to arts & crafts competitions, a petting zoo and a games area.

With family fun, fabulous food and a little easy learning along the way, Slow Food Grandmother’s Day at Sandbrook runs from 11am to 6pm on Sunday 22 April. Admission is €10 including free entry for all children with one adult, free car parking and free entry to all workshops. Cookery demonstrations range from €10 - €15 and are on a first come, first served basis.

For further information please contact Kate Gaffey: kate@sandbrook.ie or check out the website at www.grandmothersday.ie