From West Clare’s slow food celebration to Tralee Food Festival in Kerry, Taste of Galway and Street Feast, check out these events with a fork in one hand and glass in the other
Warm weather always inspires a certain culinary abandon. Throughout May, we’re spoiled for choice with food festivals, community feasts and alfresco indulgence. Here are my top picks for a great line-up this month alone …
Now in its twentieth year, the Burren Slow Food Festival is Ireland’s longest running food festival, celebrating sustainability, local flavour and the kind of storytelling that only happens over excellent cheese. Held in Lisdoonvarna, a town more traditionally known for matchmaking than Michelin star meals, this one-day event is the perfect opportunity to sample local foods, meet the producers, take in some cookery demonstrations and relish a taste of Co Clare cuisine in a stunning setting. Enjoy artisan tastings, banquet-style dining, oyster masterclasses, yoga (if you can actually move) and every food lover’s dream – cooked over fire. It’s the sort of day that makes you want to move west and eat like kings every day.
If you needed an excuse to visit Tralee, now you have one. The good Kerry folk are not known for doing things by halves and the Tralee Food Festival on May 16-18 is no exception. Over one flavour-packed weekend in May, the town will host a vibrant line-up of food trails, live cookery demos, local market stalls and enough music to dance off several rounds of whatever takes your fancy. There’s a distinct family-friendly slant to proceedings, but – make no mistake – grown-up gourmets will find plenty to love, from sea-fresh platters to small-batch gins. It’s a proper festival atmosphere full of good food, great craic and the perfect reason to linger longer than planned. @traleefoodfestival2025
Less a formal festival and more an informal countrywide picnic, Street Feast is about as feel-good as food events get. Over the last weekend in May and before the madness of another June bank holiday, thousands of communities across Ireland throw open their doors (or gates, or laneways) and gather together to share food and drinks, all the while being reminded that the people next door are (or at least can be) more than just bin-day acquaintances. Whether it’s a potluck in your cul-de-sac or a bring-your-own-banquet in the park, this festival celebrates food at its most convivial, right on your doorstep. Bring a folding chair and an open mind. @streetfeast
Throughout May, Taste of Galway transforms the city into a month-long moveable feast as restaurants, cafés, bars and hotels team up to create special menus, pop-ups and events. The result? A heady celebration of Galway’s rich food culture with more edible highlights than you could possibly fit in (sabbatical, anyone?) The community’s creative spirit shines throughout, with everything from foraging walks to sake pairings on the menu. It’s the west at its best – bohemian, bold and just the right amount of buzzy. @blasnagaillimhe
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