A new year and time for The Menu to don his Gypsy Rose outfit to serve up some predictions for 2013. The Menu enjoyed some memorable 2012 events: Dungarvan Food Festival, The Irish Examiner Food Festival, International Slow Food at Terra Madre in Turin and Theatre of Food at the Electric Picnic and Liss Ard Music Festival. Equally, he was heartbroken to miss Savour Kilkenny Festival and Dingle Food Festival — that will be rectified in 2013.! But the inaugural Kenmare Food Carnival was a bit special, not as multi-faceted as the aforementioned but as one of the original culinary outposts in the dark pre-food days in Ireland, KFC has all makings of a future top food attraction. www.kenmarefoodcarnival.com

On hearing of a spud-related attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records, The Menu immediately hitched up the wagon and pointed it westwards once more for The Menu truly venerates this most tremendous of all tubers.

Whether your bank holiday plans extend to taking your tent to music festivals such as Indiependence or Liss Ard, planning a bank holiday barbecue, or just spending some time catching up on the gardening, be warned; Mother Nature continues to play havoc with our summer.