3 April 2019
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Registrations for Street Feast 2019 have opened with the announcement of Sunday 5th May as national Street Feast Day. This year sees the 10th birthday of one of the most successful community initiatives in Ireland with over 120,000 people celebrating Street Feast last year. Overall, Cork hosted 107 Street Feasts in 2018 and the organisers are calling on residents to increase this number to 120 for Street Feast Cork 2019.
1,344 feasts were organised nationwide in 2018 and organisers are aiming to increase this to at least 1500.
Sam Bishop, Street Feast, Cork City Lord Mayor, Cllr. Mick Finn and Jack Crotty, Neighbourfood at the launch of Cork launch Street Feast 2019, which takes place on Sunday 5th May in neighbourhoods throughout Ireland.
Photo Joleen Cronin
Sam Bishop, Street Feast, Cork City Lord Mayor, Cllr. Mick Finn and Jack Crotty, Neighbourfood at the launch of Cork launch Street Feast 2019, which takes place on Sunday 5th May in neighbourhoods throughout Ireland.
Photo Joleen Cronin
Street Feast 2019 is taking place as part of the inaugural National Community Weekend hosted by the Department of Rural & Community Development. Registration for Street Feast is free and organisers can qualify for a grant from Cork County or City Council. Street Feast is supported by Cork City Council, Cork County Council and the Cork Environmental Forum, and is partnering with NeighbourFood Cork, a service which provides the facility for people to order food from local farmers markets and producers and collect at a convenient location each week.
“Street Feast is about building community and tackling isolation. It is a great opportunity for people to get together with their neighbours to share food and enjoy some conversation and camaraderie. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or house, all you need is an outdoor space to bring people together. We have had feasts organised in front gardens, on streets and greens, in carparks, laneways, local parks and community centres. We are delighted to be celebrating 10 years of Street Feast this year and think it will be bigger than ever especially as it now part of the great new National Community Weekend initiative” says Street Feast co-founder Sam Bishop
Organising a Street Feast is free and could not be easier says Sam “Hosts can register for a free Street Feast pack including bunting, invitations, posters and guides. All they have to do is spread the word amongst a few neighbours and get everyone to bring along some food and drink for sharing. It has been hugely successful and we have great stories of neighbours meeting each other for the first time at Street Feasts, making great connections and starting initiatives such as community gardens, residents associations and babysitting clubs. It fosters an excellent community spirit which is so important in this digital age when we need to build resilient, healthy communities”.
Bernadette Connolly of the Cork Environmental Forum says she is “looking forward to Street Feast 2019 as Corkonians have embraced the notion of an impromptu self-organised get together with just a few friends and family or extending to the whole community and I’m sure we will see even more streets, estates, villages and communities feasting in their own unique way on May 5th.”
Jack Crotty, co-founder of NeghbourFood says “NeighbourFood is the easiest way to access locally produced food at a fair price for those who make it. We organise collection points on Tuesdays from the Old Apple Market in Barrack St and on Wednesdays from On the Pigs Back in Douglas and O’Mahony’s in Watergrasshill”
Street Feast was set up by Sam Bishop and a group of volunteers in 2009 as a non-profit, community building initiative. Since then it has grown steadily with 1,344 feasts organised in 2018 which the team are aiming to build to 1500 in 2019. This year Street Feast is once again teaming up with Oireachtas na Gaeilge and with support from Údarás na Gaeltachta and Foras na Gaeilge they hope to have at least 30 Féasta Sráide on 5th May.
Registration and further details are available at www.streetfeast.ie
