28th October 2018
The Pavaillion, Lisdoonvarna, Co.Clare
October Bank Holiday Weekend will see the 7th Annual Year of the Burren Food Fayre. The theme for 2018 is #TasteWithoutWaste and it will bring visitors through two alternative Foraging Walks with Oonagh O’Dwyer of Wild Kitchen & Lisa Guinan of Irish Herbal Roots, food stalls and chef demonstrations. It is an opportunity for local producers to showcase their range of local produce from the Burren region to national and international visitors.
The Fayre entry is FREE of charge for all visitors on Sunday with a pre-fayre event taking place at the Storehouse in Lisdoonvarna on Saturday evening with the launch of a new Burren Brewery wild yeast herbal beer, Euphoria.
Each year on the October Bank Holiday weekend The Burren Food Fayre plays a part in the festivities for the Winterage Festival, which is celebrated in the towns and villages of the Burren. This harvest celebration , at the end of the growing season, emphasises the unique way of farming on the limestone land, culminating in a cattle drive to the uplands.
On Saturday evening, a new beer from the Burren Brewery will officially be launched in the Burren 
Storehouse,It is called EUPHORIA, and well-known beerista Sorcha Hamilton from the Irish Times as the expert wine writer John Wilson also from the Irish Times will be giving their expert opinions. Euphoria is a unique beer made without the help of hops. Master brewer Peter Curtin went out into the Burren, and collected wild yeast from the air which was then magically combined with six different herbs gathered by herbalist Lisa Guinan. “The Happy Beer” got its name from the mildly euphoric effect it can have on those who drink it. The launch will celebrate the wonderful combination of Burren’s nature, its wild components and man’s ingenuity in using those ingredients to turn them into something else.
On Sunday the 28th of October the Burren Food Fayre will open its doors in the Pavillion in Lisdoonvarna from 12 noon to 5pm, with a range of Burren food producers exhibiting their produce, cooking demos and foodie talks, confirmed chefs to date presenting at the Fayre are Robbie McCauley, Head chef at Gregans Castle, and London based Irish chef Anna Haugh. More chefs will be announced in the coming weeks.
The theme this year is “Taste without waste”. The Fayre is organised by the Conservation and Advocacy group of the Burren Ecotoruism Network, and they are striving to year to not only minimise the waste produced by this event but also to increase awareness on waste reduction. “ This year food demonstrations will focus on preparing fantastic dishes with little or no food waste, we will have a number of upcycling and reuse workshops for adults and children and the Fayre will aim to operate without generating any single use plastic waste. We are also adding a new element to the Burren Food Fayre with the very talented “Wild Antics” playing some alternative jazz tunes in the afternoon that will delight locals and visitors alike ” Says Oonagh O’Dwyer of Wild Kitchen and chair of the organising committee.
The Burren Ecotourism Network welcomes this year Calor BioLPG as their main sponsor.
