Cork on a Fork food festival showcases the best of Cork's culinary culture

One of the highlights of the five-day event is a long-table dinner running the length of MacCurtain Street

Clair Byrne and Ger Cooke from Heineken Ireland; Katherine Fitzpatrick from The VQ; Alexandre Petit, group executive chef of Trigon Hotels; Orla McAndrew, chef; Pierce Lowney from Trigon Hotels; Brian Murray, chef and owner of The Glass Curtain; Nascimento Nunes, head chef at Paladar; Kieran O’Driscoll and Deirdre O’Driscoll from TS Events; along with the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy, at the launch of Cork on a Fork Festival. Pictures: Joleen Cronin

From humble beginnings back in 2022, Cork City Council’s Cork on a Fork food festival continues to come on in leaps and bounds. Now it's back for the third year running with its most ambitious programme to date, featuring five fun-filled days (August 14-18) showcasing the very best of Cork’s food culture including bespoke dining events, food trails, demos and a whole host of other activities and happenings that serve up a taste of Leeside on the plate.

While the full programme has yet to be revealed, an early taster of some of the highlights illustrates the scope and breadth of the offering, with some of the hottest names in Irish food set to strut their stuff on stage at the Cork on a Fork Cooking Demo Marquee & Local Food Market, in Emmet Place, in Cork city centre, sponsored by Fáilte Ireland, Ireland's Ancient East and the Wild Atlantic Way.

Nascimento Nunes, Paladar head chef; Orla McAndrew, luxury wedding & event caterer; Alexandre Petit, Trigon Hotels group executive chef; and Brian Murray, chef and owner of The Glass Curtain, at the launch of Cork on a Fork Festival, which takes place from 14-18 August 2024 across Cork City centre

Featured chefs include: Rachel Allen; Goldie chef/co-proprietor Aishling Moore, freshly crowned as best chef in Ireland at the RAI awards last Sunday; Michelin-starred Rob Krawczyk (Chestnut) and Takashi Miyazaki (Miyazaki and Ichigo Ichie); Barbara Nealon, of St Francis Provisions, Kinsale; and US Hell’s Kitchen Winner, Cork’s very own Ryan O’Sullivan who will curate a four-course tasting menu in The River Lee hotel.

The recent refurbishment of MacCurtain St promises to be quite resplendent for what looks to to be a festival highlight... a very special Birra Moretti-sponsored VQ Shared Table long table dinner running the length of the street and feeding 400 guests as top local chefs come together to collaborate on serving up sharing plates of dishes created using finest local Cork produce, with drinks, live music and festive shenanigans all on tap.

With hospitality venues all over the city rowing in with their own specially tailored events, standouts include the Cork on a Fork Beerfest, sponsored by the Franciscan Well, with a range of beer events, including free brewery tours, beer-infused dinners, late-night gigs with beer samplings, and even a beer ice-cream fest, while Cork on a Fork at Marina Market, sees the enormously popular docklands venue hosting a number of events with a special Marina Kitchen, featuring cooking demos and talks; Eat Cinema, an interactive food cinema experience; and Feastival, a one-off night celebrating all the best on offer at the giant covered food hall.

Nascimento Nunes, Paladar head chef; Ger Cooke, Heineken Ireland; Brian Murray, The Glass Curtain chef and owner; Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Kieran McCarthy; Clair Byrne, Heineken Ireland; Alexandre Petit, Trigon Hotels group executive chef; and Kieran O’Driscoll, TS Events organiser, at the launch of Cork on a Fork Festival. The festival, which takes place from 14-18 August 2024 across Cork City centre, promises a variety of exciting events, including an opening night VQ Shared Table Experience where 400 people will dine on MacCurtain Street

Other highlights include: an English Market Food History Tour & Tasting at The Farmgate; a Wild Foraging Adventure & Tasting Dinner with Bryan Murray and Epi Rogan of The Glass Curtain; The Full Irish Flavour@Gabriel House, an afternoon gathering in St Luke’s overlooking the city offering local produce, garden tours and live music; while further up the road, in the beautiful gardens of The Montenotte hotel, a Montenotte Gin & Tonic Reception is followed by a Cheese, Charcuterie and Champagne picnic in association with On the Pigs Back from The English Market and Champagne Gremillet NV.

The very family-friendly festival has a Children’s Food Trail through the city centre, kids cooking demos and child friendly dining events, with plenty of similar opportunities for parents and grownups, at free and ticketed cooking demonstrations and along a variety of food trails throughout the city, including an exclusive founder-led Rebel City Distillery Tour, in their Marina HQ.

Cork on a Fork Festival is organised and supported by Cork City Council in partnership with local hospitality businesses, Fáilte Ireland, Pure Cork, Cork Business Association. Cork Airport and sponsors. Media partners are Cork’s Red Fm and the Irish Examiner.

More events will be announced in the coming weeks on corkonaforkfest.ie or on social media @corkonaforkfest