A Sense of Place: Food on the Edge returns to Galway

Ireland’s food and gastronomy symposium Food on the Edge returns for its ninth edition in October 2024, with the theme and destination announced.

The food festival makes a welcome return to its spiritual home Galway after three years at Airfield Estate, in Dublin. Food on the Edge started out in Galway and has become inextricably linked with the island’s western shore, the city of Galway and Connemara.

The theme this year for the symposium is A Sense of Place. “The theme 'a sense of place' is particularly appropriate given our return to Galway this year,” said JP McMahon, Founder of Food on the Edge.

“Galway is where I have put down roots and established my businesses including Aniar restaurant. Aniar meaning 'of the west' celebrates the produce of the west of Ireland and I think it's wonderful to experience the authenticity of food from a region. The theme of 'a sense of place' from the perspective of Food on the Edge is not limited to speaking of and championing the terroir of a region, rather I hope it also sparks debate about instances where we have lost a sense of place”.

The list of speakers at Food on the Edge 2024 is already filling up and this year the quality of discussion is set to be as high as ever. From Kinsale in Cork, Sophie Healy-Thow is the 26-year-old founder of Act4Food, and recipient of a Global Citizen Prize for work in poverty and food security.

Professor of Baking and Pastry Arts Management and baking social media sensation Matthew James Duffy will also make his first appearance this year, while Basque Culinary World Prize 2023 winner Ebru Baybara Demir returns, after appearing in 2019. The Turkish chef and food activist has since risen to global prominence for her incredible work combining traditional Turkish cuisine with modern techniques and empowering communities with purpose, nutrition, and employment.

Other chef speakers announced include Mark Donald of The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Perthshire, Pam Brunton of Inver on Scotland’s west coast, and Palestinian chef and author Fadi Kattan.

Tickets are now on sale on the Food on the Edge website and keep an eye on the line-up as many more fascinating people will be added in the coming months.