fEast Cork returns in 2022 with a stellar food festival line-up this autumn

fEast Cork 2022, the East Cork Food & Drink Festival returns after a two-year hiatus from 28th August to 4th September
in the market town of Midleton.

An exciting line up of events have been confirmed blending the area’s rich food heritage with the wider Cork region, and adding a
number of very special guests into the mix.

A festival that happens at harvest time – appropriately for a gathering up and bringing together of the best of what the area has to offer – fEast Cork is a fresh blend of conversations, dinners, produce, markets, foraging, mixology, producers, landscape, heritage and storytelling.

For families, the fEast Cork festival schedule is awash with a variety of indoor and outdoor events to keep all ages entertained. Enjoy Saturday lunch with a difference and dine alfresco while on the hunt for mischievous fairies at the Family Picnic and Fairy Trail in association with Colbert & Co at Castlemartyr Resort or take time out later in the week for an evening of organic, biodynamic and natural wine tasting with award-winning sommelier Colm McCan at The Ballymaloe Grainstore.

On Tuesday 30th August go along to meet the ‘Happy Holstein Herd’ at Rostellan Farm to see how their milk is produced and enjoy a tasting of their Farm fresh Milk & Milkshakes from their self service Milk Vending Machine – the first in Munster! #

There’s also lots of activities to enjoy on market day, the finale of this year’s festival, with a special Cully & Sully family zone with bee education, music, a visit from some of the animals from Leahy’s Open Farm, storytelling, face painting and more.

For visitors and locals who love any occasion to dine out, fEast Cork definitely delivers, partnering with some of the finest chefs, restaurants and innovators in the region. On Monday 29th August Ballymalloe House will host A Taste Of Ballymaloe – a tribute to their own gardeners and local producers and Head Chef Dervilla O’Flynn’s dedication to seasonal Farm to Fork cooking. Sea Church Ballycotton will serve up the perfect coastal combination of Ballycotton IPA and Seafood at their Surf & Turf BBQ and there’s also a chance to savour some delicious Indian cuisine in The Blackbird Ballycotton when The Field Kitchen hosts a night of Indian Cuisine with Christopher Braganza, aka The Spice Genie, recent winner of RTE’s Battle of The Food Trucks.

Ferrit & Lee Midleton is preparing a night of seafood to ‘feast’ your eyes upon, showcasing the best of local East Cork produce with wine pairing, carefully chosen by Jen Newman.

For those who can only venture out over the weekend, the schedule is still brimming with choice. Chef Patryk Suchojad hosts a Feast from Europe’s East at Surf & Turf, Midleton. This 5 course dinner will showcase local ingredients with techniques and recipes from Patryck’s home country with influences also from his time in Cyprus and here in Ireland. On Saturday morning you can brunch in The Courtyard Midleton as SAGE presents Hash Bash and Beats and bring backs some brunch staples from the
much-loved Greenrooom Menu – the brunch of choice for meat lovers, veggies and vegans alike!

On Saturday 3rd September you won’t want to miss the action at Inch beach, Whitegate when Danú Wellness hosts Food for the Soul in association with Cully and Sully and Clean Coast Ballynamona. How better to celebrate the beautiful East Cork Coast line by joining with Clean Coasts Ballynamona for a beach clean and Ocean Health Talk before relaxing into a day of Beach Bliss brought to you by East Cork’s Wellness Community.

From Yoga and Beach Blast Workouts to Meditative Sounds Baths and Talks of Wild Adventures there’s something for everyone!

Pre-book a range of treatments including Reflexology, Massage, Energy Healing, Access Bars, Chakra Balancing and Beach Sauna Sessions. Cully & Sully have been SOUP’porting the BIGGEST Big Beach Cleans in Ireland with CLEAN COASTS since 2019 and it continues to grow every year! You’ll find them alongside Danú wellness heading up the day’s food offering serving their delicious warming soups and rocking risottos.

This year’s fEast Cork schedule has also includes events to showcase local producers and food champions in the most enjoyable and educational way. Highlights include a BeeWild Journey at Ballinookera Farm, Whitegate where participants will take part in a Beekeeping workshop, honey tasting, forest bathing and mindfulness session in nature. There’s even an opportunity to see the workings of a hive up close during a 1:1 Bee Hive Experience.

Join Aquatic Biologist Frances Gallagher and learn how to identify and forage edible seaweeds in The Barn at Inch Hideaway eco camping in East Cork or enjoy a tour of Ballinrostig Organic Cheese Dairy when producers Michele and Stephen Bender team up with Two Hats Pizza Co. to create a great selection of fEAST Cork Pizzas to be enjoyed at their pop up in the charming Poc ar Buile Pub just a stone’s throw away from the Ballinrostig Dairy.

All these events lead up to the big finale on Sunday, September 4th, from early in the morning to late in the evening the entire town of Midleton is animated by the vibrant and exciting market day which includes an all-day street market, live music, local food stalls and a variety of dining and social events.

One of the highlights of this year’s festival is Grub Circus. This year Grub Circus is coming to the fEAST Cork Food Festival, for a day long extravaganza of family-friendly food-themed events, programmed and hosted by food writer Joe McNamee (Irish Examiner, Irish Restaurant Writer of the Year), including demos, tastings, talks and cooking competitions, and featuring some of Ireland’s top food personalities.

There will be plenty of opportunities for audience participation and to taste some of the finest Irish food and beverages around,
particularly from East Cork. Programme highlights include: • Culinary Constellations with Michelin-starred chefs, Damien Grey (two-starred Liath, in Dublin); Rob Krawczyk (one-starred Restaurant Chestnut, in Ballydehob, West Cork); Ahmet Dede (one-starred Dede at the Customs House, Baltimore, West Cork) and Takashi Miyazaki (one-starred Ichigo Ichie, in Cork city).

Also including Chefs Aishling Moore (Goldie, Cork); Kevin Aherne (SAGE & Co-Founder of fEAST Cork) and Spice Genie Chris Braganza, recent winner of RTÉ’s Battle of the Food Trucks.

Smokin’ Soul — the high kings of Irish BBQ, Smoking & Grilling, Pat Conway and Jim O’Brien, rock up to Grub Circus for a day of live fire masterclasses, demonstrations of their internationally renowned array of handcrafted BBQ kit, including smokers, grills and BBQs, and plenty of opportunity to taste some divine fire-cooked food. https://smokinsoul.ie

The Cully & Sully Children’s Cooking Competition, with two youthful teams competing for prizes, and mentored by two top chefs.

Early on Sunday afternoon, some of Cork City’s finest will take over SAGE restaurant for an epic Sunday lunch. This culinary coming together will see Michelin Star Chef Takashi Miyazaki of Ichigo Ichie and East Cork Native Brian Murray from the Glass Curtain team up in the Kitchen to serve an informal Fusion Sunday lunch. Front of House, Beverley Mathews of Latitude will head up the Wine offering selecting and showcasing a blend of Natural wines for each course.

Another truly unique dining opportunity that day is the SECAD culinary exhibition ‘Celebrating Multiculturalism Through Food’. This free event will showcase over 15 different nationalities from around the world, all working together to provide tastings of their individual cuisines. Visitors have an opportunity to learn their culinary techniques, be inspired by their ingredients and discover the diversity of cultures living in East Cork today.

In addition to all the great food events happening throughout the week, there is also a strong focus on local drinks highlighting the strong tradition of brewing and distilling in the area. For whiskey lovers there’s a whiskey masterclass hosted by J.J. Coppingers & The Midleton Distillery at 55 Main Street showcasing the unique whiskeys of the Midleton Distillery. The Irish Distillers Distillery, home to Jameson, Powers and many others, has a strong connection to the East Cork landscape around them. Barley grown by East Cork farmers and East Cork river water are ingredients that have helped put their whiskeys on the map, and now they in turn help raise the profile of the producers of the entire region through their generous festival sponsorship once again this year.

Cocktail enthusiasts are also in for a treat, join Coppinger’s master mixologist Sergio for a fun and interactive Cocktail Making Masterclass and learn how to muddle a Mojito or shake a Martini and acquire the tricks of the trade. Gin lovers are invited to meet the makers of another local gin, Bertha’s Revenge Gin with a distillery tour, chat and long table lunch served in the idyllic Ballyvolane House hosted by the distillers of Bertha’s Revenge Antony Jackson and Justin Green.

The team at fEast Cork, led by husband and wife duo Réidín and Kevin Aherne of SAGE Restaurant Midleton, believe that all food festivals are a good thing – that anything that gets people into their towns, villages, cities and communities to eat together is important. From the individual and small-scale but crucial producers, farmers, fishermen and cooks in the region that add layers of authenticity and history to the community.

East Cork resounds with a genuine sense of celebration of the local, the seasonal, the real. This harvest celebration holds out its arms to the wider region, creating new coordinates for this vibrant young festival. Coordinates that they hope will shine brighter each year on the food festival map of Ireland – coordinates that are pure fEast Cork.

For the full festival programme, details on event dates, tickets and reservations see www.feastcork.com or follow fEast Cork on social media: @feastcork on Twitter & Instagram or like www.facebook.com/feastcork