The Waterford Harvest Festival team has announced the guests and acts for the three main stages at the 2022 edition, which takes place across Waterford City from 9 to 11 September.
‘Food Done Right’ Stage
At the ‘Food Done Right’ stage, food sustainability will be front and centre, with a series of free talks by some of the country’s most esteemed food writers, chefs, activists, journalists, and business people.
On the ‘Food Done Right’ stage, in John Roberts Square, there will be four talks on Saturday and on Sunday. Getting things under way on Saturday 10 September will be a talk at 11am, titled ‘Global Shocks/Local Impact’, featuring environmental journalist John Gibbons, Steve Collins, and well-known organic horticulturalist, broadcaster and local food advocate Kitty Scully.
At 12.30pm is ‘Plan(e)t Based Diets’ with animal rights advocate and Go Vegan World volunteer Ruaidhri O’Boyle, along with Irish Independent journalist Margaret Donnelly and farmer and journalist Hannah Quinn-Mulligan.
At 2pm, the ‘Mass Movements Versus Mass Extinctions’ talk will be on offer, with Ray Ó Foghlú, who is passionate about driving action on his ingenious idea to connect woodlands and encourage the natural regeneration of forests to help Ireland fight climate change, and Pádraic Fogarty of Openfield Ecological Services, author of Whittled Away.
At 4pm, there will be a Q&A titled ‘Growing with Kids’, with an expert panel made up of Lilly Higgins, Deirdre Doyle of the Cool Food School, and Caroline Jolley.
On Sunday, Damian O’Reilly, a senior lecturer in the School of Retail at Technological University Dublin, Brian McCarthy of Cork Rooftop Farm and economist Jim Power kick off talks at 11am, with ‘Cost of Food, Cost of Living.’
At 12.30, the zero-waste kitchen is the focus of attention, as chefs Maurice Mc Geehan, Brian McDermott, Conor Spacey, Janice Casey Bracken and JB Dubois all take to the stage to discuss their ‘Wasted’ programme and how to reduce food waste at home and in a professional kitchen.
At 2pm, a focus on a regenerative manifesto for Waterford will be on offer, and at 4pm, some unexpected GIYers will take to the stage.
Taste Waterford Kitchen Stage
On the Taste Waterford Kitchen Stage, sponsored by Waterford’s Local Enterprise Office, there will be a host of Waterford’s very own food producers and chefs, who will all be sharing their best recipes and food tips. Visitors will enjoy meeting chefs and food producers from all across the county. Demos will be on offer from noon on Saturday to 4pm on Sunday, featuring Momo chefs Michael Buchta and Kamila Bystrzonowska, Faithlegg House Hotel chef Jenny Flynn, Caitlín Uí Aodha from IASC seafood bar, Nicola Crowley and Dvir Nusery from Mezze, and Chef JB Dubois from GROW HQ, along with the crew from Legacy Irish Cider.
Music Stage
On the music stage, a total of 16 acts will be setting the groove for the food festival weekend. Highlights include the Backroad Smokers Club, the Knotted Chords, the Cotton Pluckers, Amber and the Bear, Calypso Trio, the Moonshine Boys, Damn Dirty Apes, the Dearg Dooms, Bana Rua, Liam Merriman, the David O’Sullivan Band and more. A full schedule of the free gigs is available at harvest.giy.ie.
Additional Information
In addition, the Harvest Festival Market will traverse Waterford’s squares and interconnecting streets. It will span John Roberts Square, Arundel Square and Michael Street, and down to Barronstrand Street. With a focus on sustainability, the Festival Market includes an array of unique traders with plenty of fresh offerings and familiar faces.
The festival is being supported by Waterford City & County Council and organised by GIY, which is bringing sustainability right to the heart of the festivities, showcasing Waterford’s rich food heritage and celebrating the city’s diverse restaurants, eateries and producers. The best of Waterford’s food and drink will be centre stage, and there are a series of serious food talks for sides.
In the vast Junior GIYers’ area, which will take over Broad Street, families will enjoy the opportunity to learn how to grow food through the seasons with Muireann Ní Chíobháin, co-author of GIY’s Know-it-Allmanac. There will be seed-sowing, bug bingo and an art area, and the Nore Valley mobile farm will also be in the vicinity.
Special events including a restaurant trail will also be on offer, and Waterford will also be home to the Waterford Honey Championships and more.
For further details and to browse the full programme of events, see harvest.giy.ie.
© 2022 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
