Ireland’s Food & Drink Festival Guide September 2019
Fri Aug 30 2019
Ireland’s Food & Drink Festival Guide September 2019
written by Melanie May
September may herald the end of the summer and the end of music festival season, but food festivals are still in full swing. Just take a look at our list of the food festivals in Ireland in September 2019, there’s something delicious happening nearly every day of the month!
5th – 7th September 2019: The Dublin Beer Circus
Location: Leinster Cricket Ground, Rathmines, Dublin
Ireland’s largest celebration of craft brewing returns to the Leinster Cricket Ground in Rathmines with hundreds of craft beers, ciders, whiskies and cocktails too as well as artisan food producers and great music. From 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday the event is family-friendly and there is free admission during these times.
6th – 8th September 2019: Waterford Harvest Festival
Location: City Hall, Co. Waterford
Three days of fun foodie activities for all with a local food market, wellness and healthy food area, cookery demos, and a Blaa eating competition. This year there will also be a Wasted Supper Club, held at GROW HQ. This meal will be made entirely from food waste and fits perfectly with the ethos of the festival which promotes sustainably sourced food and reducing food waste.
6th – 15th September 2019: A Taste of West Cork
Location: Skibbereen, West Cork
A Taste of West Cork Food Festival brings together a unique mix of food markets and demonstrations, cookery competitions, special dinners, brunches and banquets, food-tastings, talks, exhibitions, children’s events and more. This ten-day extravaganza takes you on a culinary adventure through the dramatic backdrop of 41 local towns, villages and 8 islands. Need another reason to go? A Taste of West Cork Food Festival won Best Wild Atlantic Way Experience by the Irish Tourism and Travel Industry in February 2019.
7th September 2019: Hooked Seafood Festival
Location: Killybegs, Co. Donegal
This festival promotes the lifeblood of Killybegs, seafood. The festival will have seafood cookery demonstrations, filleting masterclasses, a Ready, Steady, Cook challenge and will hold the Donegal heat of the All-Ireland Chowder Cook-Off. There’s also a ‘Seafood Tucker Trail’ Competition, which is open to anyone with the guts and an iron-stomach!
7th – 8th September 2019: Airfield Estate Festival of Food
Location: Airfield Estate, Dublin
Over 15,000 people enjoyed last year’s Airfield Estate Festival of Food and this year is shaping up to be even bigger and better. There will be an extended food village, natural beauty area, food demonstrations, a music stage, craft brewery, botanical beverages, gardening zone, family foraging and much more. Admission is free, too. Hurrah!
8th – 15th September 2019: Clarenbridge Oyster Festival
Location: Clarenbridge, Co. Galway
This festival marks the beginning of the oyster season and celebrates the native oyster and all that the community of Clarenbridge has to offer. It has been running for 65 years this year and there is plenty of craic, music and oysters to be enjoyed. There is also a black-tie Oyster Ball with a champagne and oyster reception and big banquet and its all in the aid of charity.
14th – 15th September 2019: Cong Food Village
Location: Cong, Co. Mayo
Throughout three days visitors to the Cong Food Village can enjoy a range of activities from demos, farmers markets, BBQs, workshops, foraging and a unique wine tasting dinner. There’s plenty of activities for children too as well as some fun challenges like Ready, Steady, Cook and pizza-making classes.
17th – 19th September 2019: National Ploughing Championships
Location: Screggan, Co. Offaly
This massive festival celebrates not only ploughing and all things agricultural but showcases some of the best Irish food too. There are plenty of food samples to nibble on throughout the weekend as well as cookery demos and a huge food market too. In fact, the Ploughing is so large it has become the biggest outdoor event in Europe. It is definitely worth experiencing.
19th – 22nd September 2019: Armagh Food and Cider Festival
Location: venues across Co. Armagh
Did you know that the Armagh Bramley Apple has PGI status? The same PGI status as champagne and port. PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication and it is awarded to foods that are recognised as being original and unique to a specific geographical region. So it makes perfect sense that there is a festival dedicated to this wonderful fruit.
From Thursday to Sunday you can visit many orchards across historic Armagh, drink cider made from the apples, enjoy apple sauce, apple bread, apple cake and a whole lot more. There is a cider and wine drink-off, an outdoor banquet set in a local cidery and a murder mystery event set amongst the orchards.
20th – 22nd September 2019: Cork Oyster and Seafood Festival
Location: The Metropole Hotel, Cork
The Cork Oyster and Seafood Festival celebrates not only seafood and oysters but culture and music too. The festival is part of the new Fáilte Ireland ‘Taste the Island’ initiative and as part of the festival, you can join the Cork Gourmet Trail, a fab food experience that features some of Cork’s best restaurants. The All Ireland Oyster Shucking Competition will also take place as well as gigs by Paddy Casey and The Frank & Walters. So even if you don’t like seafood, there are still plenty of reasons to head to Cork for what promises to be a fun-filled weekend.
27th – 29th September: Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival
Location: Galway City
Galway City will come alive with seafood and oysters as it celebrates the 65th Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival. It’s Ireland’s oldest food festival and the world’s longest-running oyster festival. Since it started, the Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival has welcomed over half a million visitors, consumed more than 3 million oysters – washed down with champagne and stout whilst listening to some of the best musicians in Ireland. It’s so good that the Rough Guide named it one of its ’50 Things To Do Before You Die’. High praise indeed.
28th – 29th September 2019: Dublin VegFest
Location: Griffith College, Dublin
Dublin VegFest is a two-day celebration of vegan food and plant-based lifestyles. There is a large outdoor area, a speakers area, a vegan food village and a chill zone. You can try plenty of vegan foods like vegan cheeses, falafels, burgers, hot dogs, pizzas, ice cream, chocolates, healthy salads and not so healthy cakes. There are also loads of food demos too so you can learn how to cook delicious vegan dishes.
