No time to waste when you’re on the trail of taste

YOU can’t beat the early start on the Dingle Food Festival Taste Trail. It’s not just that there’s a lot to see and eat, but there are lots of people to talk to during what has become the biggest annual social occasion in Dingle to so it takes time to get around the town. And that puts the pressure on when you still have a fistful of food vouchers and not much time to convert them into things that can be eaten.

That’s fine on Saturday when people might cut a conversation short, saying it had already taken them two hours to walk the length of Main Street and it was time to press on with the campaign. But by Sunday afternoon with a lot of talking done and the vouchers still un-eaten, there’s nothing for it but to put the head down and seek out the delectable offerings that make the 80 or so food stops on the taste trail a magnet for thousands of people who travel from all over the country to get a taste of Dingle during the food festival.

Among the thousands who visited Dingle over the weekend was Pete Lento from Florida who is happy to admit that he likes his food. “In Florida we have food festivals, but not like this,” he said as he sampled the home baking at a Hope Guatemala charity cake sale.

Extended pedestrianisation gave taste trailers more room to manoeuvre on the streets of Dingle this year but it gave Festival Chairman Matthew Seán Ó Grifín a scary moment on Saturday morning when Main Street was closed to traffic for the first time since the festival began.

“When we put up the barriers at 11am I looked up the street; it was drenched wet and empty and I thought ‘what have I done?’ But an hour and a half later the sun was out and the street was full of people, thank God,” he said.

Twenty six-year-old Matthew Seán, who will graduate from IT Tralee in a few weeks’ time with a degree in Business and Marketing, was in his first year as festival chairman and he couldn’t be more grateful to the many people who helped with running the festival.

These ranged from local business people who put their shoulder to the wheel, to his mother, sister and girlfriend who helped out in the festival office and his builder father, Matthew, who was on hand to carry out running repairs. Sgt Martin Allen and the local Gardaí were a huge support, Transition Chorca Dhuibhne and Darrach Ó Murchú did an outstanding job collecting and sorting waste that was swiftly taken away by the local county council crew. An Díseart made their garden available for children’s events, Parish Priest Michael Moynihan made space for an animal farm outside the church, Emma Prendeville from Lios Póil designed new festival banners to decorate the streets. “I’m only one cog in the wheel – it takes everybody to make the festival work,” said Matthew Seán.

John Holstead and Gary Curran at the Rugbaí Chorca Stand where the 1,000 fresh oysters they had for the weekend sold out on Saturday afternoon. Maybe their customers were inspired by the Rugby World Cup, maybe by the promise on the poster.

FROM LEFT: Dingle Food Festival Director Matthew Seán Ó Grifín chatting with Sgt Martin Allen on the festival taste trail on Saturday. Katrina Ancevska and Angelika Starosz working in Martin Ryan’s Dingle Street Food stall. Holly Ní Bhrosnacháin from Bín Bán at the children’s fun day in An Díseart on Sunday. Ellen Gowran running one of the Transition Chorca Dhuibhne waste disposal stations. Maja Beaujouan, who used to run the Little Cheese Shop in Dingle before she set up The Cheese Shop in Tralee, serving cheese raclette from the last batch of cheese from her dairy in Stradbally. Gareth Hickey Brosnan working hard to keep up with the demand for prawn cocktails outside the Fishbox restaurant.