Foodies in for a massive treat at this year’s Electric Picnic

THE Theatre of Food at Electric Picnic is the apex of the culinary festival calendar and returns for the 17th time to the festival.

Neven Maguire will take to the main stage cooking up a storm before delighting us with a live DJ set of his favourite tracks, alongside Ireland’s newest viral sensation Marcus O’Laoire.

Jonny Murphy, aka The Hungry Hooker, will be alongside Michelin starred Galway chef JP McMahon, and The Cupcake Bloke aka Graham Herterich to showcase the best of baking across the isle of Ireland. Bakeoff!

A host of Ireland’s culinary extraordinaries will be cooking and exhibiting across the Theatre’s three stages, over the three days, celebrating all things food, barbecue and drinks.

Sunday morning’s feel-great Theatre of Food Brunch will also make a welcome return, in support of Irish Cancer Society and Cancer Care West.

The biggest grudge match of the year also returns to the Picnic with the Toasted Sandwich-off. The reigning Champions Arán Bakery from Kilkenny will face off against the newest exciting competitor in the game, Ryan Lally and Grá Pizza representing the Lily Whites of Kildare.

The Theatre of Food will also host a celebration of the incredible Paddystinian culture which has been created in Ireland with Cafe Izz, One Plate for Palestine, and more. Expect flavours and stories and drama to celebrate this beautiful culture at its finest.

For the first time there will be the Theatre of Food Pub Quiz. Come and test your knowledge against your fellow Picnickers to see if you know your food and join in on the conversations around using Food as Medicine, what tools make a restaurant run smoothly featuring hi-fi hero Toby Hatchet and so much more.

There’s also the Drinks Theatre which will be curated and presented by leading Irish drinks writer Aoife Carrigy along with Kildare’s very own Judith and Susan Boyle will kick the weekend off with a Punches and Cups Cocktail show.

Across the weekend, guest chefs will deliver the most mouth-watering tastes, including Sham Hanifa, author of the Blasta Book Agak Agak; Ireland’s Chinese food champion Kwanghi Chan; Lily Ramirez, the ultimate authority on Mexican cuisine in Ireland, and there will be echt gaucho Argentinian delights from Killarney’s Tango Street Food. 

The Garden Stage will also have Filipino tastes from Alex O’Neil and Richie Castillo aka Bahay, and barbecue masterclasses from John Relihan from Pitt Bros, and John Whelan of the Devils Menu.