Sounds From A Safe Harbour: Secret cocktails and sunset market among pop-up food events
Some of the food pop-ups at Sounds From A Safe Harbour 2025
It’s safe to say that Sounds From A Safe Harbour (Sept 11-14) is a pretty unique festival, certainly in an Irish context, if not globally, but this year’s iteration has added a whole new layer of ‘flavour’. Cork-based online food influencer Bryan ‘Sunshine Primo’ Rudd curates a special food programme to take place at pop-up venues around the city.
The festival programme of music, film and visual arts and culture has always incorporated food elements in the past, including The Last Supper: Ireland X Iceland, an incredible collaborative dinner by three Michelin-starred chefs, Cork’s Rob Krawczyk (Restaurant Chestnut, Baltimore) and Takashi Miyazaki (Ichigo Ichie) along with Icelandic chef Georg Arnar Halldórsson in the River Lee Hotel, back in 2023. This year, Rudd’s All Killer, No Filler approach is brought to bear on an especially vibrant offering.
With festival director Mary Hickson giving Rudd carte blanche, the festival kicks off today with Cork chilli sauce producers and stall-holders at the Black Market pop-up in O’Sho, on Barrack St, before and after the SFSH opening ritual at Elizabeth Fort.
Friday sees a special festival Sunset Market on the Coal Quay, featuring food carts and various craft stalls, while Friday Fizz continues through the weekend, offering secret cocktail specials in selected restaurants.
Saturday is a smorgasbord with sample offerings including Victor Franca (Nua Asador, Marina Market) serving up BBQ sandwiches at MacCurtain Wine Cellar, while Mr Sunshine himself teams up with ex-Pigalle head chef Mark Ahern for their Tiger Balm Club X Brian’s Wines, a Thai-Vietnamese collaboration in Bakestone Cafe, featuring some classic Asian cooking, natural wines and killer soundtracks.
Sunday sees foraging chef Epi Rogan (formerly Paradiso) taking over the kitchen at MacCurtain Wine Cellar, while Glass Curtain chef/proprietor Brian Murray and his sous chef, Darren Kennedy, bring Birdsong in the City, Murray’s Argentinean-style open fire grill, first debuted on the city’s streets during pandemic lockdown, to Coughlan’s, on Douglas St, while Saint Francis Provisions x L’Atitude 51 team up for food and wine at Bakestone.
In addition, there will be random snacking opportunities around the city, tied into the series of secret gigs, with Beamish pies and oysters amongst the edible treasures to be tracked down, and Brian’s Wines returns to its erstwhile home at Plugd Records for the entire weekend, offering natural wines and super sounds.
- Further details: soundsfromasafeharbour.com
