The fourth Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine runs from 20-22 May, 2016, and next year Litfest HQ plans to deliver the most electrifying, educational and inspirational programme to date.
The dictum for next year’s festival will be Local Hero – Global Hero, and the unique approach of Litfest will bring together another world-class lineup of fascinating and intriguing food and drink-focused authors and speakers at Ballymaloe next May.
As in previous years, Litfest will be welcoming the experts – food writers, famous chefs, food and environmental activists, avant-garde farmers big and small, food filmmakers and photographers, soil experts and bee-keepers, wine makers, distillers and brewers, and policy makers.
Francis Mallman, master of wood-fired feasts from Argentina, as featured on Netflix Chef’s Table,Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns of the critically acclaimed Bar Tartine in San Francisco, Eric Werner & Mya Henry from Hartwood, a dream restaurant in the Mexican jungle, Jancis Robinson MW, the world’s leading wine writer and critic, Prue Leith, restaurateur, writer and TV presenter, Claire Ptak of Violet Bakery in London, Hugh Johnson OBE, recognised as the world’s best-selling wine writer, kitchen garden guru Mark Diacono from Devon in England, literary legend Elisabeth Luard from Wales and the self-proclaimed ‘lapsed anarchist’ Ari Weinzweig of Zingerman’s in Michigan are just some of the guests confirmed to appear at The Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine 2016!
LitFest will continue to celebrate food and drinks writing, but the team is making plans to evolve the festival into the future. Next year they will introduce a new strand to the festival, with an element that shines a light on some of the food stories that have not yet been put on paper – hot off the mind as distinct from off the press – giving us the most up to the minute news of what’s happening in the world of food and drinks.
To that end, The Grainstore will be transformed into an exciting auditorium becoming the epicentre of the festival. Over the weekend, Litfest will stage a thought-provoking and inspiring series of short talks and presentations from both the published and not yet published. Gathering an interesting and dynamic pool of professionals, writers, experts and authorities from at home and around the world, the festival will focus minds and thoughts by starting the weekend with the question “Our food – what’s the story?”
While still curating a jam-packed schedule of cookery demonstrations, foraging expeditions, guest chef lunches and dinners, drinks talks and tastings, pop-up restaurants and lots of free-range fringe activities in the Ballymaloe House and Cookery School gardens, the Big Shed and across the many venues, the LitFest aim is to arouse interest, inspire conversation and above all, to create action.
As the full Kerrygold Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food and Wine 2016 programme is due to be finalised by the end of this year, lucky Christmas gift voucher recipients will be able to book the LitFest events of their choice in early January of next year.
Tickets are on sale from 12noon Tuesday 12th January 2016 from the box office, 00353 21 4645777, email info@litfest.ie or online at www.litfest.ie
