Festival first events at Savour Kilkenny not to be missed

Savour Kilkenny has added some very special and unique events to its schedule. Savour Kilkenny takes place from Thursday 25th – Monday 29th October, and once again the programme features much more than just food.  

Some of the wonderful festival first events at this year’s Savour Kilkenny includes;

The Kitchen Clash of the Ash- A special event added to the itinerary for this year’s Savour Kilkenny sees the festival marry two of Kilkenny’s greatest heritages and loves, Hurling and Food. Our Kilkenny hurlers are renowned for their dedication to training, devotion to the game, and high performance under pressure. At Savour Kilkenny 2018 we’ll see just how cool, calm, and collected they remain when things get hot in the kitchen! Substituting the great Brian Cody for two of Kilkenny’s finest chefs and cookery instructors, Anne Neary and Edward Hayden, former Kilkenny captain Jackie Tyrrell and right corner-back Paul Murphy will be put to the test – and the two hurlers will be challenged to make their favourite dish using Dawn Meats’ premium beef.

Jackie and Paul will have spent an afternoon with Anne and Edward in advance of the event, where they will have honed and perfected their culinary skills, to discover if they can be champions in the kitchen as well as on the field of play. Will this intense training session have prepared them for a kitchen clash of the ash? A very special referee on the day will decide if these two hurling legends can rustle up a dish of champions, so take your seat in time for throw-in! The Kitchen Clash of the Ash is scheduled for The Marble Stage (The Parade) on Saturday 27th October at 2:30pm. The event is free to attend.

Darkness into Light Bowls Exhibition - The Design & Crafts Council of Ireland in association with Ceramics Ireland and Savour Kilkenny invited ceramicists from all over Ireland to donate a ‘Darkness into Light’ bowl in aid of Pieta House for the 2018 Savour Kilkenny Festival. The Darkness into Light Bowls Exhibition aims to help raise awareness of the mental health crisis in Ireland, demonstrating that how something appears on the outside doesn’t necessarily reflect the truth within.

Since Darkness into Light, Pieta House’s flagship awareness walk/run, began in 2009 it has grown into a global movement against suicide. Pieta House tackles the issues of suicide and self-harm day every day, issues that have touched every community in Ireland. Funds raised by Darkness into Light help to keep Pieta House counselling services free to those in suicidal crisis, people who engage in self-harm, and those bereaved by suicide.  Local auctioneer Ed Donohoe will yield the highest bid for each bowl, with all proceeds going to Pieta House. The Darkness into Light Bowls Exhibit can be viewed anytime from now until the festival at KBC Bank, The Parade. The auction will take place on Sunday 28th October at The Marble Stage (The Parade) at 5:30pm.  

A Tribute to the O’Connell’s of Cullohill - We don’t hear enough about the O’Connells of Cullohill, yet numerous members of this close-knit large family have been central in the development of the Irish food scene over the past decades. Savour Kilkenny wishes to acknowledge the marvellous contribution that our neighbours from Co. Laois have made to the ‘renaissance’ of real Irish food, by hosting this very special event for Savour 2018.

The O’Connells attribute their culinary successes to their late mother Elizabeth, who was an extraordinary matriarch, gifted cook and savvy business woman. Widowed while expecting her youngest child, Elizabeth reared her nine children in the peaceful farming village of Cullohill while simultaneously running O’Connell’s pub (est. 1917), which was truly a ‘gastro-pub’ long before the term was known! Savour host Edward Hayden will speak to Tom, Richard, Blathnaid, Darina (Allen), Rory, and Patrick, to look at the history and influences behind the O’Connell food legacy. He will also discuss and explore the challenges of the industry and how Ireland should shape its food landscape for future generations. This discussion promises to be full of insight and stories about how this special family all came to be amazing food revolutionaries. This special event will take place on Saturday 27th October at the Marble Stage (The Parade) at 1:30pm. The event is free to attend.

 Commenting on festival first events planned for this year’s Savour Kilkenny, Marian Flannery, Festival Director, Savour Kilkenny said, “We are so excited to bring these wonderful and unique events to our festival. Every year we challenge ourselves to bring something new to the festival and each year the programme at the festival looks completely different to the year before. It is our priority to make sure that every year our schedule is exciting, fresh, and completely relevant. We have done this and more this year and we hope to bring the city the best Savour Kilkenny it has seen to date.”

 Savour Kilkenny will also feature demos from the nation’s favourite chefs, as well as tours, workshops, and events to suit everyone’s tastes! Not to mention the buzzing marketplace in the heart of the city. For the full programme visit www.savourkilkenny.com