Biggest Cork on a Fork Fest Yet Brings City to Life

Cork on a Fork Fest has wrapped up its biggest year yet, with sell-out events and large numbers of people taking part in more than 150 events across Cork City over five days.

The Cork City Council festival, which ran from Wednesday 12th to Sunday 16th August, brought together more than 60 chefs, alongside producers, growers, restaurants, hospitality businesses and community organisations, for its largest programme since the festival launched in 2022.

Demand was strong for the festival’s 40 unique dining experiences and major chef collaborations, which included three Michelin-starred chefs, while around half of the overall programme was free to attend.

Now in its fifth year, Cork on a Fork Fest has continued to expand both its scale, accessibility, and its city-wide footprint. This year’s programme reached new streets, heritage buildings, cultural venues and public spaces, while maintaining a substantial programme of free events for families, locals and visitors.

That combination - distinctive dining experiences alongside free, accessible events - has become a defining feature of the festival, offering visitors reasons to travel to Cork while ensuring the wider city can share in the celebration.

The festival atmosphere was particularly evident across the Festival Zone, which included a pedestrianised South Main Street, Tuckey Street and Grand Parade, as well as Counting House, Counting House Square, Triskel, and Bishop Lucey Park. The newly reimagined Bishop Lucey Park hosted its first major festival as the SuperValu Family Zone, with free children's cooking workshops and talks, food-themed activities, and entertainment.

The festival atmosphere was also felt across the three communal dining events that took place.

Almost 500 people sat down together on MacCurtain Street on opening night for the VQ Shared Table, sponsored by Birra Moretti. Businesses from across the VQ business district joined forces for a four-course feast stretching down the street. At one point, a Mexican Wave travelled the length of the table as diners joined in the celebrations, before DJ Stevie G had guests dancing in the street with their dinner napkins held overhead.

Marina Market hosted the Big Table Mixer on Friday, bringing guests together around a communal table for an alcohol-free social dining experience. On Sunday, 108 diners gathered in the middle of Pembroke Street for a shared lunch created by Helena’s at The Imperial Hotel, Orso Kitchen, Arthur Mayne’s, The Old Town Taqueria Café and The Bookshelf.

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Food also provided a gateway to some of Cork’s most distinctive spaces.

Michelin-starred chefs Lewis Barker of Terre and Paul McDonald of Bastion cooked in St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, while Rob Krawczyk of Chestnut, Aishling Moore of Goldie and Good Day Deli collaborated in the Goldie Chapel at Nano Nagle Place.

At Glenbrook Farm in Whites Cross, chef Sarah Roche served a farm-to-fork dinner in a rustic calf shed, using ingredients grown just metres from the table. Guests began the evening outdoors, enjoying their first course while watching the solar eclipse.

At Elizabeth Fort, Barrack Street became an open-air kitchen for Fire, Food and Fort, while the historic Counting House at the former Beamish & Crawford site opened to the public for the first time in years for a programme of drinks talks and tastings.

International links were also part of the programme, with chefs from Leo’s London at The Glass Curtain and from Poliphonia Restaurant in Tbilisi joining L’Atitude 51 at St Peter’s for a traditional Georgian Supra.

Across the festival, food became a way of discovering Cork itself - bringing people into streets, historic buildings, cultural venues and unexpected spaces and creating experiences that would not ordinarily be available to the public.

Cormac Ó Súilleabháin, Director of Services for City Centre Development and Operations at Cork City Council, the department that oversees the running of the festival, said: “We are hugely proud of how much Cork on a Fork Fest has grown in such a short time. There is clearly a huge engagement with the festival, and we are delighted to continue to support and fund it, in partnership with our sponsors. The festival is a component part of our wider ambition to establish Cork as an internationally recognised, top-tier food destination.” 

“What stood out this year was the level of collaboration. Restaurants, chefs, producers, businesses, cultural venues and community organisations all played their part, creating activity across the city and giving people new ways to experience Cork and its food.

“We would like to thank everyone who made the festival possible, from the chefs, producers, restaurants and businesses to our sponsors, partners and, of course, everyone who came out and took part.”

Cliona Barnes, Director at Cork Business Association, said the festival provided an important showcase for the city’s food and hospitality businesses.  “Cork on a Fork continues to shine an important spotlight on Cork’s outstanding food offering - from the English Market to our talented chefs and our incredible restaurants, bars, cafes and hospitality businesses. August can be a quieter time of year in the city, and this gives locals and visitors alike a reason to come in and spend real time here.”

Seamus Heaney, Head of Visit Cork, said, ““Cork on a Fork continues to shine an important spotlight on Cork’s outstanding food offering — from our local producers and talented chefs to our incredible restaurants and hospitality businesses. It also highlights the significant role that food plays in Cork’s overall tourism proposition. Events like Cork on a Fork give visitors another compelling reason to experience the city and wider region, while providing an excellent platform to showcase Cork as a leading food and tourism destination.”

Since its launch in 2022, Cork on a Fork Fest has rapidly established itself as a major event in Cork City’s calendar and forms part of a wider ambition to strengthen the city’s reputation as a leading food destination.

Cork on a Fork Fest is a Cork City Council festival supported by local businesses, Fáilte Ireland, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Visit Cork, Cork Airport, Cork Business Association, LEO Cork City, the Irish Hotels Federation Cork, MTU, Research Ireland, headline sponsor Musgrave and a host of event partners.

For more information, visit www.corkonaforkfest.ie.

Slán go fóill.