Here's the lineup for pop-up dinners Ballymaloe Festival of Food at this year’s weekend of delicious discovery.

Here's the lineup for pop-up dinners Ballymaloe Festival of Food 

at this year’s weekend of delicious discovery. 

Dates: 16th-18th May

Following its brilliant inaugural year, the Ballymaloe Festival of Food is back from Friday 16th May to Sunday 18th May 2025, promising another unforgettable weekend of delicious discoveries. The festival has just announced its popular programme of pop-ups, with Friday and Saturday night dinners, Sunday lunches and a very special afternoon tea, available to book now.

Friday night at Ballymaloe Festival of Food features two different dinners, with the first coming from beloved TV chef, podcast host and author, Mark Moriarty, cooking in the Woodshed Kitchen, alongside founder of Portnoo Market Garden and a passionate advocate for chemical-free growing and sustainable food systems, Barrie Quinn (€95). In Ballymaloe House, Fadi Kattan, the renowned Franco-Palestinian chef and hotelier with restaurants in London, Toronto and Bethlehem, cooks for guests along with sommelier and beverage designer, inspired by Palestinian flavours, Anna Patrowicz (€130).

On Saturday morning there is a Garden Marquee Brunch at 10.30am hosted by Ballymaloe Foods (€30.00) and in the evening, the Woodshed Kitchen hosts James Ferguson and Alethea Palmer from their gorgeous, award-winning 17th century pub and restaurant, the Kinneuchar Inn in Fife, Scotland (€95).

There are duelling Sunday lunches on the final day of the festival, with local treasures and firm favourites Paul Flynn of The Tannery and Ivan Whelan of Ballymaloe cooking in the Woodshed Kitchen (€75), and Jeremy Lee, chef-proprietor since 2012 of Soho’s iconic Quo Vadis, and one of the great exponents of classic British cooking, cooking lunch in Ballymaloe House (€80).

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, there will be a special Sunday Afternoon Tea in the Walled Garden Marquee, created by husband and wife team, Henrietta Lovell, founder, CEO and tea lady of the Rare Tea Company, and Richard Hart, the celebrated baker, founder of Hart Bageri, originally in Copenhagen and now also in CDMX, Mexico (€75).

Tickets for the pop-ups are on sale now and the full programme will be available in March 2025, ensuring plenty to look forward to in the lead-up to the festival.

Set against the backdrop of iconic Ballymaloe House and its unique complex of The Grainstore, The Big Shed, and the magical grounds and gardens, this year’s Ballymaloe Festival of Food will once again be packed with cooking demonstrations, pop-up dinners, guided walks, talks, tastings and conversations, showcasing the very best in modern Irish and international food.

Ballymaloe Festival of Food is proudly supported by Kerrygold, Local Enterprise Office, Cork County Council, Fáilte Ireland, Bord Bia, Pure Cork, Ballymaloe Foods and Cully and Sully. 

Pop-up festival dining experiences:

• Wood Shed dinners on Friday and Saturday: €95.00

• Ballymaloe House dinner with Fadi Kattan: €130

• Garden Marquee Brunch: €30.00

• Wood Shed Sunday lunch: €75.00

• Ballymaloe House lunch with Jeremy Lee: €80.00

• Afternoon Tea: €75.00

Weekend ticket prices:

• Weekend tickets (all three days): €65 per person

• Individual day tickets: €25 per person

• Evening-only tickets (on Saturday): €12

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.ballymaloegrainstore.com.

For full festival lineup see https://www.ballymaloegrainstore.com/ballymaloe-festival-of-food

For further festival information, interview opportunities with any of the festival talent and imagery please contact: 

Stonewell Sting. Drink of the Week. Maybe drink of the summer!

Stonewell Sting. Maybe the drink of the summer!

Stonewell Sting Limited Edition Craft Cider, 5.50% ABV, Ballymaloe Food Festival

One of the most refreshing drinks of the summer.

I'm pretty sure I was the first person, aside from the Stonewall crew, to taste this exquisite cider, now our taste of the week. I got that first "sting" at their stall in the Ballymaloe Food Festival earlier this month.

Colour is pale gold, with a few

Barley and Grape Rag in Ballymaloe Drinks Theatre. Rory Gallagher on the road.

Barley and Grape Rag. 

Rory Gallagher on the road.

“When I'm walking down mainstreet, feeling no pain,

Along comes a cop, he can take my name,

And explain to me what a federal case is,

I'm mixing the barley with the grape again.”

“The road is a dangerous place” said Robbie Robinson of The Band in The Last Waltz. And anyone who saw the recent film 27: Gone Too Soon will