April's Food Festivals & Events

There is a proper touch of spring in the air today and hopefully this bodes well for the month of April. There is lots happening around the country and with Easter in between it is a very welcome month and not just for all the chocolate that has been promised! Have a good one and make sure you get out and about and shake off those winter blues!

• 4th All Ireland Chowder Cook-Off:  Kinsale, Co. Cork,  12  - 13 April
• Bia Beag "Meet the Cheese Makers": Kilkenny, 5 April
• Celtic Cook Off: Skibbereen, Co. Cork, 1 & 2 April
• Dublin Bay Prawn Festival: Howth, 25 - 27 April
• Experience Japan: Dublin, 13 April
• Franciscan Well Easter Craft Beer Festival: Cork City, Dates TBC
• Galway Food Festival: Galway City, 17 - 21 April
• Roscommon Lamb Festival: Roscommon, 30 April - 5 May 
• Waterford Festival of Food: Dungarvan, 10 - 13 April 

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!

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!

Kangaroos, Crabs and a whole lot of Prawns

While lying in bed early this morning, listening to the sound of thunder and lighting and hailstones pounding the bedroom window I seriously considered staying there ... for the day! Thankfully though I didn't and dragged myself out for an early start for the trip from Meath to Howth for my first ever Fabulous Food Trail. This food trail was extra special as it coincided with the annual Dublin Bay Prawn Festival so there was a great festival atmosphere in the town. Our Fabulous Food Trail started off outside the Old Courthouse with a history of Howth from our lovely tour guide Roisin. She was interrupted by Martin from Nicky's Plaice with a batchload of their famous smoked salmon which they smoke themselves. It was only the start of a morning of sampling! Martin is very passionate about fish and the industry that surrounds it. Apparently Irish people eat only 22 fish meals a year while over 78% of our fish is exported! 

Then it was on to Ray Collier Butchers where Ray himself told us the story of Lambay Beef. I have to admit I didn't even know anyone lived on Lambay Island let alone raised cattle on it. The cattle are born and reared without ever seeing a roof in their lives. Another interesting fact is that there is a troop of kangaroos living on the island! Yes you heard that right ... Kangaroos. In the 1950s Dublin Zoo had too many on its hands and four were sent to live on the island. Since these ones are from Tasmania the habitat is not too dissimilar and over the 60 years they have thrived there!!

Then it was off to The House for a lovely sit down of scones and tea. The House advocates a slow food policy which is brought through their food and presentation right down to the china cups we were given to drink our tea from. It was all about sitting down, relaxing and enjoying our time there.

Then we traipsed two doors up to Ella's - the local wine bar. This is a lovely small venue which is famous for its prawn tempura. For our sampling we were given White Crab Meat and Avocado on Brown Bread. It was succulent and moreish so I had two!!

Then came the biggest surprise of the day - a visit to Donal Skehan's house!! Donal & Sophie very kindly welcomed us all into their home where Donal provided us with a demonstration on how to make Wild Garlic Pesto and then fed us all with Wild Garlic Soup. It was very surreal watching him demonstrate in exactly the same kitchen he does for the Kitchen Hero series as everything is exactly the same. I am now very inspired to make my own Wild Garlic Soup!

Next it was on to the County Market or Joe's as the locals call it! This lovely food store  stocks a wide range of goods. They also have a tearoom upstairs. We got to sample one of their meringues which was light, and topped with cream and a sweet raspberry coulis.

Then to wash everything down we visited The WineHouse where we sampled some red and white wines.

They offer a fabulous range of wines from small producers around the World that are exclusive to them. The trail finished at the Festival Food Village where it was prawns galore. Paella, prawn curry, BBQ prawns - you name they had it!!

     

The Howth Food Trail was €40 euros and there are others in Dublin and Cork.  I went with two friends and we had a ball. It is a wonderful morning out filled with lots of food and information about a place that you thought you probably knew a lot about. Go on a trail and you will be surprised to find out how much you didn't know!!

The Dublin Bay Prawn Festival runs until tomorrow Sunday 29th April. If you are unsure about going let me leave a little montage of persuasion for you!

April's Foodie Festivals & Events

Galway Food Festival

The first ever Galway Food Festival takes place on the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend, Friday 6th to Monday 9th April. It will celebrate all that is good about Galway food and dining with a series of fun and family friendly events. This new festival will promote good food in Galway and showcase food producers based in Galway and in the West. The festival will feature open-air markets, cookery demonstrations, a festival village at Fishmarket Square, food tours to local artisan producers, foraging, food talks, tastings, wine workshops with industry experts, kids activities and more. There is just so much to choose from!! For more info click here.

Waterfood Festival of Food

Heading into its fifth year, this festival celebrates the richness and diversity of our Irish 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 12th - 15th April. Visit here for event listings.

Grandmothers Day - Forgotten Skills 

International Slow Food Grandmother’s Day will be celebrated on 21 April 2012. To celebrate the wonderful skills and knowledge that grandparents impart to us Slow food Ireland will be hosting their special event on 22 April at Sandbrook House, Ballon, Co Carlow.  This inaugural event is dedicated to remembering and recording lost skills, and the precious inherited wisdom of previous generations. There will be a Farmer's Market and lots of demonstrations focusing on cookery and skills such as butter and cheese making. For more info about this great event click here

Trim Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

The Trim Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is a spectacular colourful event suitable for all ages with over 30 exciting activities including a spectacular Magical Nightglow event. There will be lots of entertainment available which caters for the whole family. There will be storytelling, Punch & Judy Shows, face painting for the kids and a craft village, artisan food markets and concession stands for the adults. It takes place on the 7 -9th April.  For more hot air click here

Mallow Food Craft Fair
This event will take place on Easter Sunday 8th April 2012 as part of the Racing Home for Easter Festival. There will be food stalls from all over the country displaying their produce. The market runs from 9am until 2pm. Click here for more info.

Dublin Bay Prawn Festival
This great event runs from 27th-29th April in Howth. There will be cookery demonstrations, wine-tasting events and prawn shelling competitions alongside a food village packed with food stalls and tasting sessions 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 info.

If you would like to have your foodie event added please contact Kat at thepurplepageireland (at) gmail.com