Savour Kilkenny’s ‘Taste’ stage is set for a KCLR takeover this bank holiday Monday (tomorrow).
With the annual food festival in full swing, the 2025 programme of events for bank holiday Monday has continued to expand in recent years, with this year’s offering its biggest yet.
This year has seen the addition of events at Mountain View (Ballyhale), the old KBC Bank on The Parade, Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel, and The Barrel Yard at Smithwick’s Experience, plus a selection of 10-15 stalls for a Monday Market, following on from the bumper two-day market across Saturday and Sunday.
New for this year, KCLR have teamed up with Savour Kilkenny to take over the Taste stage on The Parade to bring you a busy programme of events, getting underway at 11am and running up to 4pm.
These include
- 11am: A traditional brack baking demonstration with Anne Neary of Ryeland House Cookery School, and a regular contributor on the food front to KCLR listeners over the past 20 years.
- 12pm: An Asian cooking demonstration with chef Fadilah from the award-winning Aroi Asian Fusion in Kilkenny city centre, joined by KCLR’s Aisling McDonald, simplifying Asian cooking for home and packed with tips and tricks you can try in your own kitchen.
- 1pm: The return of Taste For A Tenner, a series run on The KCLR Daily that set the challenge to deliver a hearty meal for four people for €10 or less. Francis Nesbitt of Croan Cottages has risen to the challenge and puts his cookery – and butchery – skills to the test in conversation with KCLR’s Ken McGuire.
- 2pm: Chef, lecturer, household name and host of The Saturday Show on KCLR, Edward Hayden chairs The Patriarchs of the Kilkenny Food Scene as he’s joined by Ger Kirwan (Goatsbridge Trout Farm), Thomas Clarke (The Fig Tree), Alan Smithwick (Sullivan’s), KCLR’s Ken McGuire (Ken On Food) and more in a followup to last year’s Matriarchs of the Kilkenny Food Scene event.
- 3pm: The reveal of the winners in the inaugural KCLR Listener’s Choice Awards, where we find out who station listeners have chosen for the best breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee and takeaway in Kilkenny city and county.
“We’re really looking forward to the bank holiday Monday series at Savour this year”, says KCLR’s Program & Operations Manager, Ken McGuire.
“It’s a new venture for us, and it builds on a long-standing association with the festival. Tens of thousands of people flock to the market over the Saturday and Sunday, but we know there are always people who miss out on stalls, talks and demos, so we’re delighted to be able to add to the programme and help extend the festival’s bank holiday offerings.”
The first session of the day, a traditional brack baking demonstration from Anne Neary, may also see a number of bracks surface in the audience.
“We put the call out on air over the past few weeks for people to ‘bring a brack’ to Savour Kilkenny and see if we can find a star baker locally for a real Halloween favourite, with some tasty prizes for those taking part”, continues Ken.
“Then to bring Fadilah (Aroi) to the stage, who had played a big part in our Spice Of Life series, Francis, Edward and a wealth of knowledge from the local food scene, there’s plenty to look forward to on Monday. Best part, it’s all free, so if you’re looking to get out of the house, grab a coffee and a bite and learn something new for the kitchen, you’re in the right place at the Taste stage.”
KCLR Listener’s Choice Awards
Brack won’t be the only thing recognised on Monday, however, as the results of the KCLR Listener’s Choice Awards will be made public.
“In previous years, we’ve provided singular awards around breakfast and food provenance, but this year, as part of our ‘takeover’, we introduced the KCLR Listener’s Choice Awards, beginning with five categories seeking out the best breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee and takeaway in Kilkenny city and county.”
“Over the past fortnight, listeners have responded with hundreds of suggestions around venues and eateries, with thousands of votes to be waded through over the weekend. From community cafés to local chippers, to bars, hotels, and drive-throughs, the venue suggestions were wide open, and we’ll see who listeners have named as their top choices come 3pm on Monday.”
A number of wellness events, the annual Madra Monday with Red Mills, cake decorating and more all form part of the expanded bank holiday Monday offerings.
The full programme can be found online at savourkilkenny.com.
