Cork On A Fork: 17 top events to attend this week 

This week, the city will transform into a foodie festival hub for Cork On A Fork.

The 2025 programme, running from August 13-17, is filled with many great events, from chef collabs and pop-ups to cocktail and pasta-making masterclasses, demos, talks, tastings and tours catering to all ages with many events free.

If you’re yet to sit down with your diary, you might wonder where to start. My swift guide to a few stand-out events for each day of the festival should give you a head start.

But don’t leave it too late to book - the closer the festival gets, the quicker tickets fly out the door!

Wednesday, August 13

Hysterical Histories Takes The Imperial Hotel, 7pm, MacCurtain Street. €70pp.

Kick the festival off with a riot of laughs, a pure daycent munch, and great food at the Hysterical Histories takeover of Cork’s Grand Dame, The Imperial Hotel, for one night.

Be entertained by Cork’s most unique band of troubadours as they serve up delights with tidbits of the city’s colourful past, and a crash course in how to ‘Speak Cork’!

Pig on a Spit and Craicly Stories at Glenbrook Farm. 7.30pm-10pm. €65pp.

Craicly Stories is a roaming storytelling project, and this time they land into Glenbrook Farm where farmer Peter Twomey shares stories of their beloved farm, followed by a rustic supper of a Pig-On-A-Spit, a Blarney Brewing Company beer, and a bit of craic!

Taste the Goodness Community Garden Party. 12.30-4pm, Knocknaheeny Hollyhill Community Garden. FREE.

Enjoy this family-friendly event at the wonderful Knocknaheeny Community Garden, featuring a garden tour, music, refreshing drinks and pizza cooked in their wood-fired cob-built oven.

Thursday, August 14

Proper Sausage Making. O’Flynn’s Gourmet Sausages, Winthrop Street. 11am-12pm. FREE

Sausages are the business, but when did you ever see one made?

Remedy that by joining O’Flynn’s founder, Declan O’Flynn, for a series of live sausage-making demos showcasing the traditional methods behind their famous sausies. Enjoy free samples fresh off the grill!

A Wild Walk and Garden Tasting. 2-5pm. Fitzgerald Park & Proby’s Kitchen. €50.

Join fermenter and forager Chloe Dempsey, and experience Fitzgerald’s Park through a whole new lens - as a place abundant with wild foods.

Finish at Probys Kitchen for a water kefir demonstration, talk, and to taste what you have foraged. Take home your own kefir to start your own at-home fermentation journey.

Smokin’ Soul x Cask. 6pm. CASK. €50pp.

If you’ve never experienced a Smokin’ Soul event before, you’re in for a treat. Coming to Cork from Wexford with their gospel of smoke and fire, Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien will be cooking up a storm with CASK head chef Robert Birins.

Friday, August 15

Battle of the Smoothies Kids Sensory Cooking Class. 11am-12pm. Suitable for 3-12 years. St Peter’s, North Main Street. €13.50 p/child.

The brilliant Deirdre Doyle from award-winning The Cool Food School returns to Cork, bringing her signature flair for cool, fun and interactive food events for kids.

Deirdre will have kids smelling, chopping and tasting foods in a sensory way, then dancing it all off after!

Exclusive Meet the Producers Bus Tour. 2-6pm. Cork City and County. €90pp.

Cork’s foremost culinary historian, Regina Sexton, will lead this immersive tour of some of Cork’s iconic food and drink producers bridging city and county.

Start at the English Market, and move on to visit Hannas Bees, Frank Hederman’s Tasting Room in Cobh, Ardsallagh Cheese and Killahora Orchard.

Roots & Revelry at Callanan’s Bar. 5.30pm. €60pp.

Cork chefs Kevin Aherne (Sage/Sage Products) and Kate Lawlor (K O’Connell’s) lead the culinary delights at an evening that promises to connect the great storytelling traditions of Cork with its culinary roots.

Celebrated storyteller Diarmuid O’Drisceoil (co-author of Serving A City) leads the craic agus ceol, while Duncan Blair (Blarney Brewing Co) pours his crafted brews to slake the thirst.

Saturday, August 16

A Harvest of Nations: One Garden, Many Kitchens. 12-2pm. Togher Community Garden. FREE

Join this joyous celebration of Cork’s diverse cultures and cuisines as volunteers cook up a storm with dishes and tastes from around the world using ingredients grown in the garden.

International Tea Ceremony and Cooking Demos. 2-4pm. Tea Room and Lecture Theatre, Nano Nagle Place/School of Architecture. FREE.

Cork is famous for Barry’s Tea, but what do we really know about this favourite drink of ours?

Explore international tea and food, its cultural considerations and stories at this multi-cultural tea ceremony with Cork Migrant Centre.

Includes tasters of food, and a selection of tea and coffees from different regions.

Live Whiskey Chats Podcast. 2.30-3.30pm, Hi-B Bar, Oliver Plunkett Street. Over 18s. €20.

Join podcast host Laurie O’Dwyer of Whiskey Chats Podcast with Midleton Distillery’s Master Cooper Ger Buckley for a live podcast in Cork’s famed Hi-B Bar, renowned for its great selection of whiskey.

Yes, there will be whiskey tastings, too!

Cork on a Fork Cocktail Class.7-8pm. The Moxy. €30pp.

Learn how to shake cocktails like a pro at the funky bar of Cork’s newest hotel, The Moxy!

Using a mix of locally made and international spirits, get an introduction to the essential tools and techniques to master two classic cocktails so you can wow with perfectly shakes and stirred drinks at home.

Sunday, August 17

The Met x Maharani Afternoon Tea. 1-4pm. The Met @ Metropole Hotel. €45pp.

The last chance to experience a delicious fusion afternoon tea.

Celebrating Cork’s own Maharani Gin made at Rebel City Distillery, sip a refreshing Maharani G&T and indulge in a Summer Berry Afternoon Tea of sweet and savoury treats in the Tea Room at The Metropole.

The Beekeeper’s Children’s Picnic. 3-4pm, Urban Pantry at The Fifth Quarter (Paul Street Shopping Centre). €18pp.

Something’s buzzing in The Fifth Quarter as Urban Pantry hosts Hanna’s Bees for a fascinating experience on beekeeping and how honey is made.

Meet some native Irish honeybees up close in a glass-walled hive, engage in bee-themed colouring activities, and how you can help native bees. Includes a small gift.

Nico Reynolds x Paladar. Sittings from 6-8pm. €50.

Acclaimed RTÉ TV Chef Nico Reynolds brings his blend of Caribbean-inspired food to Cork for an exciting pop-up at vibrant Paladar.

Nico teams up with Paladar Head Chef Nascimento Pereira Nunes to craft an evening of bold flavours, great music and wickedly delicious cocktails.

River Lee Loves Local Dinner. River Lee Hotel. 7pm. €95pp.

Go beyond the plate at this special dinner hosted in The Mirror Room of the River Lee Hotel. Executive Head Chef Paul Lane celebrates the best local ingredients in a thoughtfully crafted four-course menu to connect diners to our food producers.

All Weekend Long…

Cork on a Fork hosts a Demo Marquee and new Talk & Tasting Marquee on Emmet Square featuring free talks, demos, samples, tastings, book signings and more.

Check out the Cork On A Fork festival website for the full schedule.