Preparation Time: THREE MORE WEEKS

Cooking Time: Seven Hours: 11AM-6PM

Take three top chefs, blend carefully with a fine selection of locally produced food, mix with master classes, cookery demonstrations, and flavour with plenty of festival fun – and presto – you have the Lough Neagh Food Festival served up.

Not to be confused with Antrim’s ‘Flock to the Lough’ Festival at the end of August, Castledawson’s Main Street will be the venue for the one-day Lough Neagh Food Festival – from 11am to 6pm on Saturday 15th September.

And it will all be done in the best possible taste! Organised by Castledawson Development Enterprises Ltd, the family festival is set to rock the taste buds of foodies from all over Northern Ireland and beyond! There’ll be something to suit all tastes – from gingerbread baking and decorating for small people to more sophisticated seafood demonstrations for fishy visitors!

BBQ BLISS

Local chef Simon Toye is teasingly promising a tantalising BBQ menu, which will be served up in the Courtyard area of the historic Castledawson Inn, during the afternoon and early evening.

“It definitely won’t be the usual burgers and sausages in baps. We’ll be serving up some very tasty alternatives to the usual barbeque fare – for example, large langoustines prawns from Dublin Bay will be rolled in garlic and slowly roasted on the BBQ. I’m also planning to BBQ Miso glazed chicken and carefully crafted kebabs, accompanied by chef’s selection of fresh, flavoursome salad dishes.”

SEAFOOD AND EAT IT

Slip in to Ditty’s Bakery for the Seafood Demonstration, where chef Simon Toye will be showing a captivated audience how to get the best results from local delicacy, the Lough Neagh Eel!

The festival organisers have also been fortunate in securing the sought after culinary skills or Gardiners chef Sean Owens and celebrity chef Jenny Bristow. Both will be hosting master classes for amateur gourmets – but turn up early for the food demos and master classes – it’s first come first served!

SIDEWALK STALLS

Adding flavour to the festivities will be around 40 food stalls lining the sidewalks of Castledawson, where the sweet aromas of melting chocolate and freshly brewed, locally roasted coffee beans and other delights will waft along Main Street.

SENSE-SATIONAL

All the senses will be in for a special treat at the Lough Neagh Food Festival – the sense of taste, smell, sight and sound – even freedom of expression gets a look in – with the Monster Mural, which allows children from three to ninety three to get to grips with a little graffiti-style artwork!

FREE FOR ALL!

The Lough Neagh Food Festival is free and open to all visitors. Sponsored by Ditty’s Bakeries and JC Stewart, and supported by the Magherafelt Area Partnership and Council, the event is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s NI Regional Food Programme and the Peace II Programme.

For further information contact Julie McCaughan @ Issue Island on 0044 (0)28 796 59626 or issue.island@btinternet.com or Jackie McGonigle at Orchid Design on 0044 (0)77 27640045 or info@designbyorchid.com