Cork 2023: Making Cork the food capital of Ireland

After a hugely successful pilot last year, the Cork on a Fork Festival will return from Wednesday, August 16 to Sunday, August 20. Run by Cork City Council, the event is doubling in size with over 100 events.

Taking place at a time when Fáilte Ireland is working on a destination plan to designate Cork the food capital of Ireland, the festival will showcase the region’s culinary kudos, desirable dining options and buzzing nightlife.

“Last year we launched the pilot with only a few weeks’ notice and most events booked out within days, driving thousands into the city,” said Niamh Murphy, festival manager on behalf of Cork City Council.

The Cork on a Fork food festival resulted from the Report of the Night-time Economy Task Force, issued in September 2021.

“Cork city was asked to deliver a food pilot which would give an authentic local food experience,” said John Hayes, Cork City Council city centre co-ordinator. “This involved working with local producers, restaurants, bars, hotels and food tour/trail operations – really everyone involved in the food business in Cork,” he said.

“We really have to give credit to these stakeholders. They all jumped on board very quickly and enabled us to deliver the inaugural festival, which was a real success,” Hayes said.

“Cork city and region have an abundance of fabulous food, complemented by super chefs and venues. Using local and regional produce also, pardon the pun, feeds into the sustainability and climate goals that are so important,” he said.

“Since the pandemic, we have seen a real move to outdoor dining and with infrastructure supported through Fáilte Ireland and other government supports, the city is a really attractive food destination,” said Hayes.

Cork on a Fork, Murphy said, is for anyone with an interest in food or those looking for new experiences in Cork city, from locals to visitors.

“Most of the hospitality trade in the city centre is involved so its potential is vast,” said Murphy. “We aim to attract visitors from near and far, working with Cork City Council’s partners in Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Visit Cork, Cork Business Association and Cork Airport.”

The festival will kick off with two hours of talks at a conference ‘Feeding Cork the sustainable and healthy way,’ in partnership with Cork Food Policy Council, at 1 Lapp’s Quay on Wednesday the 16th.

SoulCanvas, a night of yoga, art, music and food, will get underway at Crawford Art Gallery with The Yoga Tree and The Green Room Café, that evening.

L’Atitude 51 is partnering with NeighbourFood, the online farmer’s market, to host a Cork produce showcase, via Cork NeighbourFood producers in the form of a paella at a makeshift kitchen on the boardwalk of Union Quay on Thursday, August 17.

Numerous talks and tastings will feature, including Black Gold, Cork’s Blood Pudding Culture with Kate from Flavour.ie at the Farmgate restaurant, English Market on Friday the 18th.

A series of talks will take place at the festival stage in the Crawford Art Gallery Theatre all day on August 18 and 19. They will include a panel discussion with leading names in Cork food; a discussion with food writers; a talk on Bertha’s Gin; and talks from the UCC School of Food and Nutritional Sciences.

A 100-seater cooking demo festival marquee will be erected on Emmet Place, outside Cork Opera House, on Saturday the 19th, featuring demos and talks by leading names in Cork food, including Michelin chef Takashi Miyazaki from Ichigo Ichie and Michelin-rated chef Aishling Moore from Goldie. Admission is free to all events.

A festival market will occur the same day with over 20 local producers and businesses on the same day with live music and face painting.

Influencer Shauna Doyle will host a 'Corkchella' festival picnic at the gardens of Gabriel House, St Luke’s, while the Montenotte Hotel will host a summer champagne afternoon picnic in its Victorian sunken gardens, also on Saturday the 19th.

There will be the opportunity to explore Cork harbour on a sailing, shucking and shanties cruise with oyster shucking by Pat O’Connell, while zero-waste chef Conor Spacey will officially launch his book ‘Wasted’ in L’Atitude that evening.

There will also be daily food trails throughout the city and renowned Cork chef Orla McAndrew will pop up for cooking demos using fresh market produce outside the English Market over the week.

Many venues will have special offers and early bird menus and music will resound throughout the dining streets.

The programme also caters for families with ticketed and free events including a bread and butter making demo at Cork Butter Museum; pizza-making workshops; sensory cooking classes with the Cool Food School at St Peter’s for various ages; a healthy eating puppet show and pop-up play streets.

“Cork city has a treasure trove of unique dining spaces from historic buildings to rooftop gardens and waterfront venues. It’s also a compact city and the Cork region boasts a significant amount of Ireland’s artisan producers,” Hayes said.

Seamus Heaney, head of Visit Cork, said that the festival will place Cork on the map nationally and internationally while Brian O’Flynn, head of Ireland’s Ancient East at Fáilte Ireland, said that Cork has huge potential to attract domestic and international visitors.

“We are currently working with industry and key stakeholders to identify new opportunities to create a diverse range of visitor experiences as part of our destination and experience development plans for Ireland’s Ancient East,” O’Flynn said.

Murphy expects the festival to develop over the next five years to become one of the biggest economic drivers to Cork city, on par with the Guinness Jazz Festival and Cork International Choral Festival.

“We have a city that has local and sustainability at its heart, unique dining venues, Michelin star and Michelin rated restaurants, fun pubs, the famous English Market and amazing produce, so the potential Cork has as a food destination is exponential,” she said.