Robin Oatts
Each year, the Dublin Irish Festival brings a wealth of Irish entertainment, culture and visitors to the city, and this year will be no different. However, festival organizers work hard to keep the festival fresh – especially when it comes to the food.
“We’ve always had different vendors that have traditional Irish food,” says Sara O’Malley, event specialist for the City of Dublin. “Although we’re an Irish festival we appeal to a general audience, so we’re bringing in fun food trucks that are trending right now in Columbus, but we’re also bringing more of the authentic Celtic experience.”
Robin Oatts
Central Ohio residents can enjoy some of their favorite local spots including Dell’s Homemade Ice Cream & Coffee, The Old Bag of Nails Pub, Mikey’s Late Night Slice, Mya's Fried Chicken, Squeaky's Cheese Curds and J. Liu Restaurant and Schmidt’s Sausage Haus und Restaurant, as well as sample some faraway foods like Gosia’s Pierogies from Pennsylvania, Bessie’s Homemade Noodles from Miamisburg, and OPA Greek & Italian Cuisine from Virginia.
The food at the DIF is anchored by sponsor Giant Eagle and, says O’Malley, the company has been integral in launching a relatively new tent at the festival: the Celtic Cooking Pavilion.
“They’re an incredible asset in the community and to the festival, so they really launched this concept off the ground,” she says. “We consulted with them on how to come up with an outdoor cooking station that was feasible for an outdoor event, so we really looked to them for strategic advice.”
The Celtic Cooking Pavilion, which will celebrate its fourth year at the festival in August,
“I think people like to see recipes they can make at home,” says O’Malley. “The message is you can bring these Irish traditions to your own kitchen, and I’m going to show you how. I think it’s very well received.”
However, the pavilion’s popularity got turned up to 11 at the 2018 iteration of the DIF, after organizers got wind of Chef Eric McBride of Celtic Caterer. McBride, who is based in Colorado, is no stranger to Celtic food or Irish festivals. In fact, one might say they’re his bread and butter.
McBride boasts more than 30 years of experience in the food industry and is classically trained in Celtic history and literature. He combines his food and Celtic expertise to educate others about Celtic food, which he says is the combination of cuisine from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, the Isle of Man, and areas of France and Spain.
“I’ve been doing Celtic festivals for, at least doing the cooking demonstrations, the last five years,” says McBride. “I’m a historical chef, so I take a long-rooted (approach). … I take a step back and show you by connecting the dots that many of the recipes are the same through all the Celtic nations, there just might be slight variations – maybe the names changed.”
Using a combination of his own spices and ingredients from the local Giant Eagle, McBride showcases the ways in which festivalgoers can create delicious, authentic Celtic meals in their own kitchen – and yes, that’s more than just the stereotyped meat and potatoes.
“It’s five political nations, but 3,500 years of trade that binds them together. When I do my demonstration, I talk about how the ancient Celts used to smoke salmon, how much potatoes were actually consumed,” says McBride. “When they try what Celtic cuisine is supposed to be like, it blows their minds.”
Robin Oatts
And lovers of genuine Celtic cuisine won’t be disappointed at the DIF, as there are plenty of options to satisfy the craving. The Irish Baker, Hey Hey Bar & Grill, The Dublin Pub and The Celtic Pig are staples at the DIF, each serving up tasty dishes to perfectly complement the music of We Banjo 3 or the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.
Whether you choose a historically accurate meal curated by McBride, a hand-scooped Italian ice from Giuseppe’s Italian Ice, or sample as much as you can handle, you can’t go wrong with food at the DIF.
“We have roughly 50 (food vendors),” says Kendel Kellogg, event coordinator for the City of Dublin. “Our food vendors really love this festival and they love being a part of it. We see very little turnover.”
Longtime fans of the DIF can attest to the fact that it wasn’t always this big. Authentic Celtic cuisine was harder to come by in years past.
“Our food has expanded from having a few food vendors that have Irish offerings to coming up with the Celtic Cooking Pavilion, which Giant Eagle was key in helping us launch,” says Cathy Witchey, event specialist with the City of Dublin. “We’ve expanded it to bringing in people like Eric McBride who do this day in and day out.”
The 32nd Annual Dublin Irish Festival
Aug. 2: 4 p.m.-midnight
Aug. 3: 11 a.m.-midnight
Aug. 4: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
Coffman Park
$15 at the gate
$10 one-day tickets available at www.dublinirishfestival.org before Aug. 2
To purchase food and drink tokens in advance, visit the Dublin Community Recreation Center front desk from July 22-Aug. 1.
The Irish Go Interactive
When the Dublin Irish Festival rolls around, Coffman Park’s 40 acres turn into a foreign landscape, even for the longest-tenured Dublin residents. Always looking to go that extra step, Dublin-based Ease Logistics sponsored the development of a mobile app, available on the Google Play and Apple stores, to accompany the festival.
“Our guests are using their cellphones, so we want to engage them in the palm of their hand and put information in their hands,” says Kellogg, “We can look at what people are saying and rectify those situations. We’re going to get some real-time feedback.”
Robin Oatts
Not only will the application enable attendees to check out a map of the festival and a schedule of events throughout the weekend, it will also allow users to filter all of the events they might not want to miss. Want to hit the Celtic Cooking Pavilion, make Gaelic Storm’s set, see the Columbus Celtic Dancers perform and hang your wish on the Wishing Tree? The app will help you schedule everything so you don’t miss a thing. If you’re hoping to familiarize yourself with some of the performers’ work so you don’t miss a beat during their sets, you can listen to all of their music within the app.
“We attract regionally and internationally, so I think it’s going to really help people from Dublin and help them get around,” says O’Malley. “Kendel has put in so many hours researching music festivals and seeing what’s in their (mobile applications) and narrowing down apps. It was a very thoughtful process, and we’re really excited.”
Amanda DePerro is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
