Sun shines on Ballymaloe Litfest as speakers discuss, debate and cook fine food

Until a deluge split the heavens at lunchtime on Sunday, many were increasingly inclined to believe rumours that Satan was spotted somewhere east of Shanagarry bearing a bagful of souls, his part in a Faustian bargain that saw the 2016 Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine bask in an utterly improbable mini-heatwave while the rest of the country took to the lifeboats.

While weather conditions on Friday were as wet as anywhere else in Ireland when the festival was launched in the Ballymaloe Grainstore by broadcaster John Bowman, the party continuing into the night in the pop-up social hub, The Big Shed, those arriving to Ballymaloe on Saturday morning were greeted by clear blue skies and blazing sunshine that continued right through until lunchtime on Sunday.

The festival, now in its fourth year, is one of the world’s premier food events and over 60 speakers from the world of food took part in discussions, demos, debates, tastings and readings as well as cooking several fine meals, such as the wildly successful pop-up on Saturday night that saw the critically-acclaimed Mews restaurant transport their entire operation from Baltimore, in West Cork, to the Ballymaloe Cookery School for those privileged enough to have a ticket.