Wicklow Food Festival on in Bray this Sat & Sun

zoobizoo

If you're looking for something to do, the Wicklow Food and Garden Festival is on this weekend on Bray seafront

Lots of cookery demonstrations - Rachel Allen, CAtherine Fulvio, Derry Clarke etc

Lots of stalls from local suppliers.

Only €3 in. Free for under 12s.....

And it's in a massive marquee so you'll be dry.

foxy06

I see the pop up restaurant was in the bray head hotel. If I had known I would have got tickets. I'd say it was some night!

murpho999

Was there today.

Cooking demonstrations were good but I thought the "local" food selections were poor.

Muffins, cup cakes, Indian food (which I like), Syrian Food and sweet shops should not be at a Wicklow Food Festival in my opinion.

Seemed to be that exhibitors were those willing to pay for a stall. Seemed to be more food choices last year.

zoobizoo

Think it's going to be open again tomorrow for the Bank Holiday Monday too....

brayblue24

Went there this morning with Mrs. BB. We bought 6 (very nice) buns (for the kids you understand :rolleyes:), 2 lovely savoury crepes and 2 very tasty coffees, all of which which we enjoyed while reclining in the deckchairs outside and before we left we also bought some homemade pesto.

Altogether this came to nearly €40, which in itself is fine as we enjoyed the food and were supporting local businesses but it was still somewhat soured as we had to pay €3 each to get in to what was essentially the Kilrudderry Market.

NobodyImportant

Maybe I'm a tightarse, but i passed it and didnt feel like paying in to pay for food. Also with the sides of the marquee down, you couldnt see what was going on inside and therefore wasnt as interested.

brayblue24

NobodyImportant wrote: »

Maybe I'm a tightarse, but i passed it and didnt feel like paying in to pay for food.

Absolutely not in my opinion. I only went down to see the Classic Car display (which didn't appear to materialise anyway) and herself wanted to visit this amenity. I posted here on the assumption that somebody involved in the organisation of this event might read it. There were quite a few events with €€ attached to their entrance this year and it's not a trend I'd like to see developing. The people of Bray, and indeed beyond, support this festival, which I hugely admire by the way, so to start charging for the likes of going into a tent no bigger than a house is a bit rich to my mind. Particularly when anyone can just go to Kilruddery House on a Saturday, park for free, enter for free and buy pretty much the same stuff anyway.

Anyhoo that's only my opinion

murpho999

brayblue24 wrote: »

Absolutely not in my opinion. I only went down to see the Classic Car display (which didn't appear to materialise anyway) and herself wanted to visit this amenity. I posted here on the assumption that somebody involved in the organisation of this event might read it. There were quite a few events with €€ attached to their entrance this year and it's not a trend I'd like to see developing. The people of Bray, and indeed beyond, support this festival, which I hugely admire by the way, so to start charging for the likes of going into a tent no bigger than a house is a bit rich to my mind. Particularly when anyone can just go to Kilruddery House on a Saturday, park for free, enter for free and buy pretty much the same stuff anyway.

Anyhoo that's only my opinion

Agree totally with this as the food on display was just not worth paying in for.

However on Saturday cooking displays from Rachel Allen, Derry Clarke and Marco from Campo de Fiori were well worth the admission.

sallymomo

I am not sure comparing it to Kilruddery is fair to be honest. It certainly did not stack up in terms of stallholders compared with Kilruddery but on the other hand I am sure if Kilruddery has demonstrations from Rachel Allen, Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio, Paul Kelly etc they would probably have to charge €3 entry also.
I thought the whole festival went very well this year and brought a lot of business to the town.
Granted, like a few people on here, I can also see room for improvement.
I am sure the numerous volunteers would welcome not only suggestions but also extra pairs of hands to improve the festival - maybe some people on here should try it?

I am involved in sports in the county on a voluntary basis for the last 15 years and the level of volunteers is dramatically dropping, some of that has to do with the volunteers being fed up with the constant negative feedback from those who are willing to criticise but not participate.

I for one would not like to see a scenario whereby the festival volunteers feel the same and we are left with just the Kilruddery farmers market as an activity in the summer (Disclaimer, I am a regular visit to Kilruddery and enjoy what they have brought to Bray over the last few years)

I am feeling a little more positive about Bray as a whole at the moment and hope we can keep on improving the town - some of this has been due to the last month of festivities (i hope Calibos agrees with me!!!)

brayblue24

Fair enough, that makes sense and far be it from me to criticise anyone who volunteers for anything as I've volunteered in a sport in the county for 10+ years.

The point you make about the cookery demonstrations is absolutely valid and I can see why they would draw a crowd and I can honestly understand why the people who are interested in this sort of thing would part with €3 for the privilege, as, in truth, that would be good value-if it's your thing.

However, presumably in common with many others, I have zero interest in this so why not separate the two and charge for the demos only? The stalls were very quiet when I was there yet what they had to sell was very, very good so why not open this area to the masses (who will spend) and allow those who wish to see the demonstrations do so in peace. You can see above that people who otherwise would have gone in passed it by rather than pay.

sallymomo

brayblue24 wrote: »

Fair enough, that makes sense and far be it from me to criticise anyone who volunteers for anything as I've volunteered in a sport in the county for 10+ years.

The point you make about the cookery demonstrations is absolutely valid and I can see why they would draw a crowd and I can honestly understand why the people who are interested in this sort of thing would part with €3 for the privilege, as, in truth, that would be good value-if it's your thing.

However, presumably in common with many others, I have zero interest in this so why not separate the two and charge for the demos only? The stalls were very quiet when I was there yet what they had to sell was very, very good so why not open this area to the masses (who will spend) and allow those who wish to see the demonstrations do so in peace. You can see above that people who otherwise would have gone in passed it by rather than pay.

Hey brayblue24,
You have it on my point exactly "Granted, like a few people on here, I can also see room for improvement.
I am sure the numerous volunteers would welcome not only suggestions but also extra pairs of hands to improve the festival - maybe some people on here should try it?"

Suggestions of separating the chefs theatre from the stalls could work I suppose (not knowing the cost details). I am not on facebook so not sure if their facebook page is monitored for suggestions but maybe if you are you could recommend it?

As I said, I'm all for improvement, its the constant negativity of people in Bray that grinds my gears, be it the festival or Bray in general.

Loads to improve in the town - my recommendation to others? Try helping out! Loads of groups out there, coastal care etc

People buy into the negativity whether its other locals or even public representatives saying it - change it!