Photograph: Patrick Browne
Waterford’s annual Harvest Festival announce details of the 2022 festival programme with a major focus on food sustainability at the festival which will take place at venues and outdoors across Waterford City from September 9th to 11th 2022.
The festival is being supported by Waterford Council and 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. The best of Waterford’s food and drink will be centre stage and there are a series of serious food talks for sides.
Taking to the stage at the ‘Food Done Right’ food sustainability talks will be some of the country’s most esteemed food writers, chefs, activists, journalists and business people, it’s guaranteed to be an educational, engaging and entertaining debate each day. The theme underpinning Food Done Right this year is Regeneration – the role food can play in restoring nature and community. Each discussion will have a variety of panellists who will represent different viewpoints on the chosen topics including Global Shocks and Local Impact, Plant Versus Meat, Pollination and Biodiversity, growing with Kids and Zero Waste Kitchens.
On the 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 Waterford.
In the vast Junior GIYer’s 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 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 including a restaurants trail, live music programmed by WAMA’s Trevor Darmody and Waterford will also be home to the World Honey Championships where visitors can meet the best honey producers and learn all about the process as they have a chance to meet with the makers. A Slice of Culture will be on offer at Wyse Park which is a collaboration with Waterford Migrant Forum offering a multicultural experience full of dance, songs and tasty dishes that celebrate Waterford’s ever-diversifying community.
Topping it all off will be the Giant Harvest Festival Market which will traverse across Waterford’s wonderful squares and interconnecting streets, it will span from John Robert’s Square into Arundel Square onto Michael Street, and travel up Patrick’s 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. Plus there will be opportunities for everyone to get stuck into some GIY with an opportunity to win a free plant and seeds.
Commenting on the upcoming festival, GIY Founder Michael Kelly says, “We are delighted to share a programme of events which wholly encapsulates what makes Waterford the best place to live, its diverse communities. This celebration of local food celebrates our Huguenot-founded Waterford Blaa but so much more than that, with producers and chefs from all over the world having made Waterford their home, our food scene is rich in diversity.
Food Sustainability is central to our festival this year; we have teamed up with Native Events to not only talk about sustainability but to deliver a sustainable festival too as we aim to deliver a fully carbon-neutral Harvest Festival by 2024.
The Harvest weekend is set to be a very special one in Waterford and it is certainly a food occasion not to be missed for visitors and locals alike.”
The Waterford Harvest Festival is a weekend-long celebration taking place from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th of September and will see the city come to life with markets, special dining events, panel discussions and plenty more. For further details and to browse the full programme of events see https://harvest.giy.ie/
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