The 2024 Dingle Food Festival, taking place from October 4th to 6th, aims to be Ireland’s first “Zero Landfill Waste” festival, promoting sustainable practices and minimizing disposable packaging.
Festival attendees are encouraged to bring their own bowls; for those who forget, stainless steel bowls will be available for rental, and festival packs with bamboo tableware will be sold.
With over 150,000 food tastings expected, the festival includes popular events like the Taste Trail, where participants can sample food from local vendors using reusable dishware.
Highlights of the festival include various food masterclasses, workshops, the Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards, market stalls, live music, street entertainment, and activities for children. Sustainability moves include:
- HVO Generators – festival generators will be run on ethically sourced HVO for the weekend, providing the electricity for the market stalls.
- Less Paper – printed material moving online, with a smaller festival programme being printed.
- Green Transport – working with Bus Éireann and The Local Link, providing more bus options to and from the peninsula over the weekend
- Sustainable practices workshops – workshops on how you can practice better sustainability including one specifically for children, delivered by Jennider Attard of MTU on “Limiting Food Waste”
- Micro Bio Digester manufacturer “MyGug” will set up a micro bio digester to convert all the unavoidable food waste, instantly into gas, which will be used to power the cookery demonstrations by local producers.
