THERE was a massive ebb and flow of people at the inaugural Savour the Flavour food festival at the Fairfield in Skibbereen recently.
John O’Driscoll, chairman of the Skibbereen and District Chamber of Commerce, said it shows there is an appetite for a yearly food festival in the town.
‘Overall, it was a massive success and that was reinforced by the crowds,’ said John, who served on the organising sub-committee alongside Elma Connolly and Christian Pozimski.
‘I made a point to go around to all of them during the day and they all said they’d definitely be back next year,’ said John.
Victor Forja of Moonshine Balloons really brightened up Skibbereen's West Cork Food Festival event Savour the Flavour last Sunday afternoon. Photo; Anne Minihane.
Lots of people loved the event for the music because it added a real positive atmosphere on the day. Among the featured acts were Brian Hennessy, St Fachtna’s Silver Band, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, a C103 DJ set; the emerging talent that is the band Brainstorm, and the band Thirsty Work from Rosscarbery who closed out the festival.
‘It’s clear there is a huge demand for a food festival in Skibbereen,’ said John. ‘It was missed, and for good reason, because West Cork is synonymous with food and producers.
John said the organising committee appreciated the support and financial backing of Cork County Council, as part of its Pure Cork initiative.
The support of the local authority helped to balance the books, which meant the inaugural event was self-financing.
‘When we first floated the idea, we were quoted crazy figures. But with a bit of ingenuity and by appealing to the local community, who really came out to support it, we pulled off a fairly impressive event.’
The festival proved to be a real family day out which was helped in no small way by the provision of a carousel as an amenity for children, play mats from Let’s Play Cork and fitness classes by Jonathan Davis.
‘It was a food festival first and foremost but it was designed to be a family friendly day out,’ said John, who thanked everyone who did demonstrations on the day, such as David Flynn and Stephen Flynn of The Happy Pear, Maria Kennedy who gave a demo on seaweed in our diet, and Helena Hickey’s of Skeaghanore West Cork Duck.
‘The festival ticked a lot of boxes,’ said John.
‘There was something for everyone. It was a celebration of all that West Cork is known for such as good food, good music and innovative crafts people.’
