What to expect at the Ballymaloe Festival of Food this month

Following on from the huge success of the inaugural Ballymaloe Food Festival last year, the pilgrimage to East Cork’s foodie paradise will return this year for another great immersion into the wonderful world of food.

Taking place from May 16 to 18 in the grounds of Ballymaloe House, the programme is a smorgasbord of big names, thinkers, doers, and inspirational people hosting talks, cookery demos, workshops, and guided tours.

Evening events on Friday and Saturday night, from long table dinners in the Walled Garden Tent to pop-ups in the Woodshed Kitchen and discos in the Lambing Shed, will encourage people to put down the cutlery and get down with the food-inspired party atmosphere.

An incredible line-up of artisan food and drink stalls and a pop-up food truck park catering to every possible taste complete the delicious festival offering.

The Ballymaloe Festival of Food encourages everyone to revel in the food community that gathers there to discover new tastes, learn about food culture from farm to fork, or simply enjoy meandering and socialising.

Headliners for this year’s festival are aplenty.

Renowned food critic, Jay Rayner, will be giving a cookery demonstration on the Cook the Books Stage of recipes from his latest book, Nights Out At Home, and later, on the Scoop and a Yarn Stage, will be talking about the world of food critiquing with food writer and Scoop Food Mag editor Dee Laffan.

Tom Parker Bowles, food critic, writer, and son of Queen Camilla, will be along to talk about his book Cooking And The Crown: Royal Recipes From Queen Victoria to King Charles III on Saturday morning, as well as hosting a cooking demo on Sunday in The Grainstore.

TV’s Matt Tebbutt, Anthony Worrall-Thompson and Thomasina Miers will also be there among the starry headliners.

A much-loved book on my shelf is Tim Hayward’s Knife. He’ll be talking about this most useful and essential piece of kitchen equipment on The Butter Club Stage with master craftsman and knife-maker, Fingal Ferguson, of the famed Gubbeen family of artisan producers based in Schull, West Cork.

Farmfluencers are the new rock and roll on social media, promoting the environmental benefits of regenerative agriculture and organic living for health and wellness.

The Ballymaloe festival welcomes the original farmfluencer, George Lamb, co-founder of Wildfarmed - a regenerative food and farming business, and GROW - a life skills education programme working with schools and communities.

He will be talking about the revelatory power of ‘regen-ag’ with Karen O’Donohoe of Ballymaloe Organic Farm School on the Change We Must Stage, which also features a host of talks, interactive workshops, and screenings on everything from soil and farming to school dinners, flowers and wool.

As Ireland’s homegrown publishing phenomenon, Blasta Books, has shown, food is a celebration of rich and diverse voices, tastes, flavours and stories.

An acclaimed voice in Indian cuisine in the UK, Romy Gill MBE brings her vibrant and delicious approach to Indian food to a demo in The Grainstore on Saturday morning, blending flavour and storytelling.

Fadi Kattan, renowned Franco-Palestinian chef and hotelier with restaurants in London, Toronto and Bethlehem, will cook for guests with sommelier and beverage designer Anna Patrowicz, while weaving stories of the richness of Palestinian cuisine with the heartbreaking reality of a nation, its food heritage and culture under threat.

Homegrown Irish talent is superbly represented too. Successful chef, author, podcast host and TV personality, Mark Moriarty,will be cooking in the Woodshed Kitchen, alongside founder of Portnoo Market Garden and passionate advocate for chemical-free growing and sustainable food systems, Barrie Quinn.

There are duelling Sunday lunches on the final day of the festival, with local treasures and firm favourites Paul Flynn of The Tannery and Ivan Whelanof Ballymaloe cooking in the Woodshed Kitchen.

Ireland’s leading oyster educator, Sarah Browne, founder of Oysome, will be on hand on Saturday and Sunday in her very own Oysome Oyster Tent, giving talks and shucking demos with fresh oysters for sale too.

Big names in Irish food, Erica Drum, Graham Herterich, Eric Matthews, Theo Kirwan, Conor Spacey, and Cork’s own Eman and Izz Alkarajeh of Izz Café will all be there to host cookery demos, as well as Ballymaloe legends Rory O’Connell, Darina and Rachel Allen.

Marcus O’Laoire – chef, writer and DJ – will be swapping wheels of cheese for wheels of steel at his Butter Disco on Saturday night in the Lambing Shed.

Over in the Drink’s Theatre, curated by Ballymaloe’s in-house drinks expert Colm McCann, expect a riot of flavours, tastes, and talks.

Cork’s multi-award-winning mixologist and owner of successful cocktail lounges CASK and Paladar, Andy Ferreira will be giving a cocktail masterclass. Justin Green of Bertha’s Revenge will be talking gin, Óisin Davies will be hosting a Poitín Party, and Caroline Hennessy will be hosting a talk on Ireland’s craft cider renaissance.

The entry ticket covers free access to much of the festival programme, while pop-up dinners, afternoon teas, and supper clubs are ticketed separately. These events always sell out fast, so if there is something that tickles your fancy, don’t leave it too late to book!