As part of activities to commemorate this year’s World Food Day, the Africans in Diaspora Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Heritage Confectionery, Ireland is planning to organise an Irish African Food Festival (IAFF 2024).
The two-day event slated for the 19th- 20th October 2024 in Dublin the Irish Capital will showcase the unique diversity of food representing the five continents of the World namely, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and America.
According to a statement signed by Paula Rose Mc Kenzie and Hon. Olusesan Arowolo, the MD/CEO of Heritage Confectionery, on behalf of the organizers of the Irish African Food Festival, participants will range from organic and fresh food producers to food vendors, artisan restaurants and traditional cuisine by hoteliers and it’s expected to raise awareness and offer fantastic exposure for the rapidly growing food culture in Ireland.
“This food festival is to commemorate the World Food Day celebrated worldwide every 16th October, as declared by the United Nations to ighlight issues that have to do with food security and help fight hunger worldwide.
The statement noted that the first day of the festival tagged ‘ Understanding Culture through Food’ will showcase the display of food representing the five continents. It will project how food defines every nation and helps people form connections with societies around the world.
Activities on the first day will go beyond eating and drinking but also reveal how the food scene from different continents is bringing together food, culture, and community, as well as a chance for everyone to sample variety of food from different chefs, food producers, vendors and restaurants.
The organisers also noted that on that day, they would like Nigeria to showcase one or two of her best delicacies just as they stated that with a token, participants will have an opportunity for public impact in return as well as buying great exposure.
They listed benefits of the festival to include Direct customer engagement, the potential to reach new customers and a broader spectrum of guests, increased sales and valuable market insights, enhanced brand visibility, opportunity to connect with existing customers and uniting communities as a way of giving back.
Other benefits include making an impact on the public to enable one to stand out from other contenders, a means of qualitative networking with other businesses and marketing of one’s business amongst others.
The second and final day of the festival will be for awards where recognition will be given to food vendors, individuals and restaurants in Ireland and Africa that have carved a niche for themselves in the food sector.
There will also be discussants to highlight the beauty of traditional foods as an essential part of Irish and African heritage and cultural identity as well as discuss the world vision of a global goal to end hunger for every man, woman and child around the world.
The last day of the event, according to Princess Pamela Ogunwusi, the festival’s Head of Operations, will also feature music and dance from around the world positing that they believe food serves as a vital tool in establishing and expressing relationships in every society.
” We believe that at the close of the event, the food festival would fulfil the objectives of projecting and fuelling culinary creativity, promoting the cultural acceptance of food across different countries and communities, elevating food brands’ presence in Ireland, making people understand the cultural significance of food from different countries, expanding professional network , fostering community cohesion and a sense of belonging as well as raising awareness of how food is an essential part of every culture”, she concluded.
Speaking on the invitation, the President of Africans in Diaspora Chamber of Commerce (ADICC), Ambassador Dr. Edward Olutoke described the food festival as a novel innovation that will afford Nigerians and other Africans the rare opportunity to not only get adequate exposure on European and continental cuisines but will also enable them to interact and network with other chefs from across the globe for business expansion.
He extended invitation to those interested in being part of the festival to contact his office immediately for more details and official invitation.
