Waterford's Harvest Festival has announced the lineup for the three stages at this year's event.
It will run from September 8th until 11th.
Food Done Right talk stage
Food sustainability will be front and centre with a series of free talks on offer at this stage in John Roberts Square.
There will be four talks on Saturday and Sunday.
At 12.30 pm on Saturday is ‘Plan(e)t Based Diets’ with animal rights advocate Ruaidhri O'Boyle, along with Irish Independent journalist Margaret Donnelly and farmer and journalist Hannah- Quinn-Mulligan.
At 2 pm a talk on ‘Mass Movements Versus Mass Extinctions’ will be on offer with Ray O Foghlu. He is passionate about driving action on his ingenious idea to connect woodland and encourage natural regeneration of forests to help Ireland fight climate change.
At 4 pm there will be a Q&A on offer titled, ‘Growing with kids’ with an expert panel made up of Lilly Higgins, Deirdre Doyle of Cool Food School and Caroline Jolley.
On Sunday, senior lecturer in the School of Retail at the Technological University Dublin Damien O’Reilly, Brian McCarthy of Cork Rooftop Gardens and economist Jim Power kick off talks at 11 am with ‘Cost of Food, Cost of Living.'
At 12.30, Zero Waste Kitchens is the focus of attention as Chefs Maurice McGeehan, Brian McDermot, 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 2 pm a focus on a regenerative manifesto for Waterford will be on offer and at 4 pm some unexpected GIY’ers will take to the stage.
Taste Waterford Kitchen Stage
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 can enjoy meeting chefs and food producers from all across the county.
Demos will be on offer from 12 on Saturday to 4 pm on Sunday.
Momo Chefs Michael Buchta and Kamila Bystrzonowska, Faithlegg House Hotel Chef Jenny Flynn, Caitlín Uí Aodha from IASC seafood bar, Nicola Crowley & Dvir Nusery from Mezze and Chef JB Dubois from GROW HQ along with the crew from Legacy Cider will all feature on the stage across the weekend.
Music Stage
There are a total of 16 acts that will be setting the groove for the food festival weekend.
Highlights include the Backroad Smokers Club, The Knotted Chords, The Cotton Pluckers, Amber & The Bear, Calypso Trio, The Moonshine Boys, Damn Dirty Apes, The Dearg Dooms, Bana Rua, Liam Merriman, David O’Sullivan Band and more.
More activities on offer
The Harvest Festival Market will traverse across Waterford’s squares and interconnecting streets.
It will span from John Robert’s Square into Arundel Square onto 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 organised by GIY who are 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.
In the vast Junior GIYer’s area which will take over Broad Street, families can enjoy the opportunity to learn how to grow food through the seasons with Muireann Ní Chíobháin co-author of the GIY Know it Allmanac.
There will be seed sowing, bug bingo, an art area, and the Nore Valley Mobile Farm will also be in the vicinity.
Special events will also be on offer. Those include a restaurant trail, the Waterford Honey Championships and more.
For a full list of events, see the Harvest Festival website.
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