The Harvest Festival team have announced the guests and acts for the three main stages at the 2022 festival, which takes place across Waterford City from September 9th to 11th.
At the ‘Food Done Right’ talk stage, food sustainability will be front and centre with a series of free talks on offer with some of the country’s most esteemed food writers, chefs, activists, journalists and business people.
Food Done Right Talks Stage
On the food Done Right talks stage in John Roberts Square, there will be 4 talks on Saturday and on Sunday. Getting things underway on Saturday, September 10th 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 12.30 pm is ‘Plan(e)t Based Diets’ with animal rights advocate who volunteers for Go Vegan World 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 Verus Mass Extinctions’ will be on offer with Ray O Foghlu who is passionate about driving action on his ingenious idea to connect woodland and encourage natural regeneration of forests to help Ireland fight climate change and Padraig Fogarty of Openfield Ecological Services, and author of Whittled Away.
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
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 4 pm on Sunday featuring Momo Chef Michael Buchta & 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.
Music Stage
On the 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. A full schedule of the free gigs is available at www.harvest.giy.ie
In addition, the Harvest Festival Market 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 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 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.
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 restaurant trail 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 https://harvest.giy.ie/
