A calf shed is one of the unusual venues at this year's Cork-on-a-Fork Festival.

Running from August 12-16, the Cork City Council festival invites locals and visitors to discover the city one remarkable place - and one memorable taste - at a time.

Other dining venues will include a cathedral, a chapel, an old brewery, a fort, a former bank, and city streets decked with long tables.

The festival is intending to extend far beyond Cork’s acclaimed restaurants, hotels and bars, which will also host a vast range of events.

The result will be a citywide programme in which Cork’s architecture, history and public spaces are as key to the experience as the menus and events themselves.

It will support the city’s ambition to become recognised as a world-class food destination and attract visitors from across the globe, according to the organisers.

Calf sheds and cathedrals

Glenbrook Farm and chef Sarah Roche will serve a four-course pop-up dinner in the farm’s rustic calf shed on Wednesday, August 12.

Ingredients will come directly from Glenbrook Farm and Cork Rooftop Farm, just metres from guests’ seats, creating a genuine farm-to-fork, zero-mile experience.

One of the most dramatic new settings is St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, where Michelin-starred chefs Lewis Barker of Terre and Paul McDonald of Bastion will host the cathedral supper on Thursday, August 13.

The landmark, located close to the historic birthplace of Cork, has never before been used for a dining experience of this kind.

It will not be the only church setting, as on Sunday, the Goldie Chapel at Nano Nagle Place will host another festival highlight, a one-night-only collaboration between Michelin-starred chef Rob Krawczyk of Chestnut, Bib Gourmand chef Aishling Moore of Goldie and Eric Nolan of Good Day Deli.

The city’s ecclesiastical heritage will also take centre stage at St Peter’s, where L’Atitude 51 and chefs from Poliphonia restaurant in Tbilisi will present SUPRA on Thursday.

The Georgian shared table feast will combine Cork ingredients with Georgian culinary traditions, wines, storytelling and the ritual leadership of a tamada, or toastmaster.

History will provide the backdrop at Elizabeth Fort on Friday, when Fire, Food and Fort brings live fire cooking demonstrations within the fort’s historic walls.

A very different experience will take place at Marina Market on Friday with the Big Table Mixer, which will bring 100 people together around a communal table for a three-course feast prepared by market traders.

Featuring zero alcohol drinks and music from Stevie G, the event is designed for solo diners and anyone looking for a relaxed way to make new connections.

Civic architecture will have its moment at No. 1 Lapp’s Quay, the former Cork Savings Bank, where RTÉ Today chefs Eunice Power, Alex Petit and Mags Roche will join forces on Thursday for a three-course dinner.

The historic Counting House -  the former Beamish & Crawford site which has been acquired by Cork City Council for a new world-class city library - will also open to the public for the first time in years for an all-weekend drinks theatre.

Meanwhile, Cork city’s distillery, Rebel City Distillery, will open its doors for multiple food and drink events, including a gin and cheese tasting evening and a dinner with the Spice Genie.

Cultural venues will be re-imagined too. Triskel Arts Centre will host talks and tastings stage, while the Blue Angel at Cork Opera House will offer panoramic city views during a free wine-and-chocolate tasting with a Lindt master chocolatier. 

The Butter Museum will host A Taste of Shandon, while a caipirinha masterclass will transform Kino into a hands-on cocktail classroom.

Across five days, more than 150 food experiences - ticketed and free - will be served up throughout the city.

Cork-on-a-Fork Fest celebrates the farmers, fishers, growers, makers, chefs, producers and hospitality teams who give Cork its distinctive flavour.