Belfast Taste and Music Fest 2009 – What do you think?
Posted: 20 August '09 by Niall
Belfast Taste and Music Fest 09
So, another Belfast Taste-Fest has come and gone – but what to make of it?
Although we enjoyed the day out in The Big Smoke – due to the delicious food cooked up by all of those local and Chicagoan chefs, the decent weather, and the fact that there was a sizeable beer tent – I was a bit non-plussed by the end of the day. Something wasn’t right – and now that the dust and the sore heads have settled, I thought I’d try and work out what my problem with the Taste-Fest was. I suppose it all comes down to why the Taste and Music festival was put together..
If the idea was to introduce some of the talented Northern Irish chefs theout there then, yes, I suppose it achieved that – there were plenty of chefs representing restaurants and eateries from across Northern Ireland that I’d never heard of.
What about promoting new tastes and standards of cooking? Again, there were some great dishes being made, so yes, I think this was probably achieved.
But as for enthusing people, introduce the public to the people behind the apron, or kick-start a food-loving, food-saavy community in Northern Ireland? I doubt it.
For me, the event was all about the money – and it was a fairly expensive event, what with admission costing £10 per person, and bags of twenty tokens (necessary to buy any food) also £10. Many of the tasting-plates cost 6 or 7 tokens, and it just rankled a bit. Should four prawns, or the smallest burger I’ve ever encountered (although it was made from wild boar), cost £3.50? At those prices the “eat goes on” for about ten minutes, checks it’s wallet, and contemplates the following days’ phone-call to the bank manager during the long walk home..
The bar itself was a bit of a nightmare too – big queues (waiting times were around 10 or 15 minutes by 9pm), and there was a limited selection of beer and wine – not as bad as “red or white” for the wine selection, but not a million miles away.
It certainly wasn’t all bad news – the food was superb – really superb in some cases – the Botanic Gardens are a great venue, and the entertainment was good too (Flash Harry on the Saturday night).
Maybe I am a bit idealistic, or I’ve been spoiled by foodie-events in other countries, but it just seems that, no matter what is organised in Northern Ireland, the focus is on your wallet.
I just think we can and need to do better.
Tags: belfast, belfast taste and music fest, event, review
Categories: Things to do
i was going to go to the one this year..but i didnt realise the expensiveness of it..i thought for the admission charge you would have at least get a taster of the food…I dont have much money, though my personal interest in this event would be to see the variety of different dishes that belfast has to offer. reading the admission charge and the cost of the tokens has discouraged me though…sure the chefs etc have to be paid, i understand that, but i do believe the costs are a little too much as you said
You’re right Jax – it is expensive – there’s no two ways about it..
The Belfast Chilli Fest, from the 6th to 12th of September, sounds very promising though..
Chilli Fest? We we there at 6pm last year on the Friday night. No Chilli left!! i was expecting a load of stalls with different chefs selling chilli samples for a reasonable price so we could judge which was best!! In the end we had to queue for 20 minutes for a bowl of Jambalaya!
I just don’t think NI is good at hosting events. Organisers publicise it well and make it sound brilliant, then charge a ridiculous entry fee and fail to deliver.