Savour Kilkenny: food businesses take note

This year’s Savour Kilkenny Food Festival will take place from Friday 22 to Sunday 25 October and the organisers are currently looking for interested food businesses to get involved. There will be a large open-air market over the weekend on the newly developed Parade Plaza, just by Kilkenny Castle, as well as a tented food village and central marquee for workshops, demonstrations, competitions and events.

If you’re a food business, you’ll find more information below, or – if you’re an interested eater – Savour Kilkenny is online at www.savourkilkenny.com, on Twitter and Facebook. With great local producers like Goatsbridge Trout, Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese, The Truffle Fairy and The Little Apple Company, I’m always looking for excuses to visit Kilkenny. For more, take a look at the fabulous Taste of Kilkenny Food Trail, complete with a downloadable map and brochure.

For Immediate Release: CALL TO FOOD BUSINESSES TO REGISTER FOR MOUTH WATERING EVENT IN KILKENNYFood businesses have a great opportunity to get a slice of the action in the forthcoming Savour Kilkenny Food Festival which takes place over the October Bank Holiday Weekend.The Festival – which is now in its fourth year – will feature a huge open-air market with Kilkenny Castle as the backdrop on the newly developed Parade Plaza over the weekend of October 22nd to 25th.While a percentage of stalls are reserved for Kilkenny producers, there will be an allocation reserved for regional food producers, according to Festival Manager, Claire Daly.The Parade Plaza will be transformed featuring a tented food village with up to 60 food stalls and a central marquee able to accommodate 200 people for workshops, demonstrations, competitions and events. There will also be a “farm to fork” experience, lots of street entertainment, and a host of activities for children in what promises to be an unmissable, gastronomic experience.The cost of a three metre by three metre stall is only €200 plus VAT for the weekend. “The real cost should be €800 but this is being subsidised by the festival” explained Claire Daly. Where possible the festival will facilitate stand sharing by very small businesses as the festival is keenly aware that we are facing very challenging economic times. There will be a huge promotional campaign planned around the Festival with a roll out of extensive local and national PR in print and broadcast media. There will be major online marketing through the festival website (www.savourkilkenny.com) and other food related websites and social media and 30,000 programmes will be distributed.The Savour Festival Committee is calling on Kilkenny’s food businesses to participate in the festival by running an event in their premises or even simply putting on a special Savour menu for the weekend. The cost of being an official Festival participant is €180 for small businesses and €450 for a hotel. For this the business will be included in the Festival programme, 30,000 of which will be distributed all over the county. They will also be featured on the Savour Kilkenny website which received thousands of hits in the run-up to last year’s festival. Savour Kilkenny Chairman, Ger Mullally said, “We are only able to offer this hugely discounted rate for exhibiting on the Plaza and for participation in the Festival thanks to the very generous grant we received from Kilkenny Leader Partnership and sponsorship from Glanbia, Pallas Foods and Failte Ireland. It’s a fantastic opportunity for Kilkenny food businesses and for Kilkenny itself and we hope everyone will get behind this hugely exciting event.”The Festival has grown in strength to strength over the last four years and is now regarded as one of Ireland’s biggest food events bringing visitors on a fun, fascinating and future-focused journey from farm to fork. Set against the dramatic backdrop of Kilkenny Castle, visitors to the Parade Plaza will be able to taste and buy the best of local and regional produce while street performers, musicians, and face-painters will provide the sights and sounds.Visitors to the food marquee will be able to experience the journey from farm to fork through a variety of events for all the family from wine tastings, food talks and cookery demonstrations to workshops on apple-pressing, cheese-making and other artisan skills to fun events such as a local celebrity Ready Steady Cookoff.Savour Kilkenny is about celebrating the whole of Kilkenny’s food heritage and family events will be held in Castlecomer, Thomastown and Callan. The festival will also showcase the newly formed Kilkenny Food Trail which has 38 members throughout the county. There will be a strong focus in this year’s programme on the next generation of food-lovers with a Young Producers Food market, a Ready Steady Cook challenge, a Young Chefs competition, fun family lunches, quirky cupcake icing, healthy lunchboxes and much more. The festival will also be liaising with local heritage, arts and crafts organisations to bring a truly creative edge to the event. The full programme of events will be launched in early September.Anyone interested in booking a stall or getting involved contact Festival Manager: Claire Daly, 086 021 7465, or claire.daly@savourkilkenny.comWebsite: www.savourkilkenny.com / Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.