![\"Niamh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/5060555_12_articleinlinemobile_25-15.jpeg\" "\\"Niamh")
Niamh Murphy, festival manager of Cork on a Fork Festival for Cork City Council pictured in the English Market. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n\u201cThis year we\u2019ve got it covered, literally,\u201d laughs Niamh Murphy, festival manager of Cork on a Fork, referring to the festival\u2019s headline event, The VQ Shared Table, which last year had to be moved indoors to the nearby Metropole Hotel at the last minute because of downpours.<\/p>\n
Covering the long table, which stretches almost the entire length of MacCurtain Street, will be a stretch marquee that will \u201cweatherproof\u201d this year\u2019s event, says Murphy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019ll be no need to keep one eye on the sky,\u201d says Murphy. \u201cOnly in the case of severe weather will the event move indoors this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt the shared table is the hottest ticket of the festival and this year the event will play host to 500 diners, up from 400 last year, who will be served a four-course sharing menu from local restaurants including The Glass Curtain, The Metropole, Greene\u2019s, Paladar, The Dean, Isaacs Restaurant, The Address, Da Mirco, Thompson\u2019s, and The Shelbourne Bar. The full festival programme will be launched next week, on May 6.<\/p>\n
The festival, now in its fifth year, has become a staple in the Cork events calendar, but its success is spreading further afield, says Murphy.<\/p>\n
\u201cF\u00e1ilte Ireland is actively talking about Cork on a Fork internationally. The event is really putting Cork on the map for food globally, and F\u00e1ilte Ireland is seeing festivals like this as an opportunity to grow the area of food tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, the festival had 17,000 ticketed events that generated \u20ac250,000 in sales. \u201cWe will far surpass that this year,\u201d says Murphy. \u201cAnd that amount doesn\u2019t take into account the footfall traffic increase in the city and the future sales stemming from the festival. Anecdotally, we know that restaurants are enjoying bookings based on the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
By any measure, Cork on a Fork has become an economic and cultural success. That success is very much down to the food community in Cork, who are not mere participants at the event, says Murphy.<\/p>\n
Niamh Murphy, festival manager of Cork on a Fork Festival for Cork City Council pictured in the English Market. Picture: Chani Anderson<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way we look at it, the Cork City Council and myself are just the coordinators of the festival. It\u2019s really the food community themselves that are driving this. They\u2019re coming to us now and saying, \u2018we want to do this\u2019 and \u2018we want to do that\u2019. They\u2019ve really come together and claimed ownership over it, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where five years ago Murphy says the organisers were looking for restaurants, chefs, or food producers to take part in the festival, today is a different story.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first year, we had maybe 30 events, this year we\u2019ll have over 150 events across the city. It\u2019s really engaging everyone and they want to be involved, which makes our job so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n
Make no mistake, there is ambition here, and the Cork City Council and the food community, are not sitting on the festival\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re evolving and trying to open new markets and attract new demographics.<\/p>\n
A fresh addition to the 2026 programme is The Big Table Mixer in Marina Market, which is hoping to tap into Cork\u2019s growing appetite for alcohol-free socialising.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe festival has always been popular with the over 35 demographic and this year we wanted to appeal to the younger cohort too. We know younger people aren\u2019t into drinking as much, so this event \u2014 another long-table dining experience \u2014 is alcohol free with cocktails form SAOR zero alcohol bar in Marina Market.\u201d<\/p>\n
One hundred diners will enjoy a three-course meal from traders at the Marina Market including Nua Asador, Okra, The Greek, Eco Fish, MKT Burger, Kura, Just Wing It, and Sweet Spot. As well as those who enjoy alcohol-free socialising, the event is also tapping into the \u201csolo traveller trend\u201d, says Murphy.<\/p>\n
\n It\u2019ll be a relaxed event with opportunities for mingling in between each course\n <\/p>\n
The seating too is relaxed. Diners can change their seats at each course \u201cif they meet someone they\u2019d like to chat more with\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking to attract people who might be travelling or new to the city who are looking to make new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
A third showcase event Chef Collaboration at Goldie Chapel is being styled as a \u201cmore intimate, high-end\u201d affair.<\/p>\n
\u201cRob Krawcyk from Michelin-starred Chestnut, Aishling Moore from Goldie \u2014 who is one to watch, she\u2019s winning awards left, right and centre \u2014 and Good Day Deli, who are obviously renowned locally, are coming together, and we\u2019re doing the second ever dinner in Goldie Chapel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event, for 50 diners, is a rare chance for diners to taste food from three of Cork\u2019s most celebrated chefs.<\/p>\n
Beyond the headline acts, Cork on a Fork is centred around accessibility and inclusivity, says Murphy. \u201cLast year one third of the events were free, and that\u2019s the way we\u2019ll continue. Education on healthy food and sustainability, and cooking demos are all a huge part of it too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the other side of it really, aside from the glitz and the glam of the showcase events.<\/p>\n
\u201cInclusivity is also at the heart of the festival. We know that sitting around the table with people of different cultures eating foods from those cultures is really inclusive.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo this year we have events with the Cork Migrant Centre and we have a Georgian delegation coming to do an event. For us, it\u2019s all about celebrating that multiculturalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, as the festival continues to grow, the festival zone will be moved from its traditional home of Emmet Place to allow for \u201cmore cooking demos, talks, markets and free workshops for kids\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Cork, we have so much here from a food perspective; there\u2019s a long and strong food story here, and Cork on a Fork is another part of that story.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we have wider ambitions too, and the council and all key stakeholders are working towards applying to be the World Region of Gastronomy down the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
With events like this showcasing what\u2019s so special about the Cork food scene, we don\u2019t doubt for a minute that the World Region of Gastronomy is well within Cork\u2019s sights.<\/p>\n
Cork on a Fork \u2014 August 12 -16 \u2014 is run by Cork City Council in partnership with local hospitality businesses and producers, supported by F\u00e1ilte Ireland, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism, and Employment; Visit Cork; Cork Airport, the Irish Hotels Federation; MTU; and Cork Business Association, and sponsored by Musgrave. \u2018There\u2019ll be no need to keep one eye on the sky\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis year we\u2019ve got it covered, literally,\u201d laughs Niamh Murphy, festival manager of Cork on a Fork, referring…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430119,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,35921,61,60],"class_list":["post-430118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-food-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430118"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430118\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n corkcity.ie\/en\/cork-on-a-fork-fest\/what-s-on\/<\/a><\/p>\n