The White Horse Bar, Ballincollig hosts its 2nd Annual Beer & Food Festival from Wednesday 14th to Sunday 18th September.  The five-day festival promises an exciting mix of international artisan beers, a wide variety of gastro fare and an eclectic music line-up.

The festival opens on Wednesday 14th with the Fringe Whiskey Festival in association with Cooley Distillery.  Come along and enjoy a talk from Cooley Brand Ambassador, Linda Khalfi, whiskey tasting, live jazz music and Cuban cigar sampling with cigar connoisseurs.  Tickets for this event are €10 and space is limited.

On Thursday 15th, The White Horse hosts a special Beer & Curry Evening with Green Saffron Spices.  Arun Kapil is a spice specialist, a family trained “Masaalchi”, Ballymaloe trained cook and founder of Green Saffron Spices, with an innate talent for creating the most fragrant, beautifully balanced spice blends for use in all gastronomic disciplines.  At this ticketed event, Arun will give a talk and do a number of cookery demonstrations, creating dishes that are the perfect accompaniment to some of The White Horse’s more unusual beers. Tickets are €20 and available from the bar at The White Horse.

Following the Beer & Curry Evening, the fun continues when Crazy Chester play a free show in The Kasbah; while The Alan Kelly Gang with be joined by internationally acclaimed Scottish singer Eddi Reader (formerly of Fairground Attraction) and Trashcan Sinatra’s guitarist and songwriter John Douglas, for what promises to be a sensational show Upstairs @ The White Horse.  Tickets for the concert are priced at €17.50 and are available from the bar or www.whitehorse.ie.

Celebrity chef, Richard Fox a.ka. “The Beer Chef” returns to The White Horse on Friday 16th to challenge the perception that wine is the best accompaniment to food.  Fox has long maintained that beer is a much more complementary partner to quality cooking and intends to prove this by hosting a food and beer demonstration in The White Horse.  This Beer and Food Master-Class is a ticketed event (€20 each) starting at 7pm, where event goers can expect to sample the delicious menu cooked by Fox, accompanied by exceptional beers.  Fox’s participation in the festival is more than fitting given that the ethos of The White Horse is to produce quality food, paired with exceptional beers in a relaxed environment.

Cork band, The Lynch Mob will officially launch The White Horse’s “Festival Club” in The Kasbah at The White Horse at 9pm on Friday 16th, and this will be followed by a Dead Cool DJ set.  The Festival Club opens at 2pm on Saturday 17th and festival goers can prop up the Artisan Beer Bar and enjoy beers from local breweries like Eight Degrees Brewery, while chilling out in the cool setting with great DJ Sets.  For something different, guests can try their hand at Ringo – it’s like Bingo, but instead of calling numbers, you get the intros to well-known songs and you mark off the band’s name on your sheet. Proceeds from this go to Marymount Hospice.

At 6pm, guests are invited to attend Mike’s BBQ Master-Class and Tasting in The Kasbah.  Chicago native Mike Corcoran is a pitmaster who has studied under World Champion BBQ Chefs Paul Kirk & Mike Mills.  He is a strong advocate of the ‘low & slow’ method of cooking on the BBQ and this free event with dishes like “Beer Butt Chicken” is definitely not to be missed.  Guests can relax afterwards to the sweet sounds of The Lee Valley String Band from 7pm.

Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club play Upstairs @ The White Horse from 8.30pm, and are sure to be a real crowd pleaser.  Tickets for this intimate gig are just €20.  Later in the night, music fans can hang around for more great free music from Hank Wedel and Elly O’Keeffe.

Proceedings kick off early on Sunday 18th with the Festival Club open from 2pm.  Beer, food and music lovers will once again have the opportunity to sample a variety of artisan beers, enjoy a boozy brunch with great food while being entertained by DJ Stevie G.  From 6pm, The Calvinists play The Kasbah and this will officially close The White Horse’s 2011 Beer & Food Festival.

Owner/Manager of The White Horse, Joe Carey, who is well known in music circles in Ireland and also a member of top Cork band Jodavino, said “The Beer & Food Festival is a chance for people Cork to really experience the best of local fare, great music acts and the artisan beers we’re so proud to carry in The White Horse.  I’m so thrilled that Richard Fox can once again join us, as his name is synonymous with great beers and fantastic food, as is the White Horse.”

Tickets for the various events over throughout the festival are available directly from The White Horse & www.whitehorse.ie.  For more information on these or anything to do with the Beer & Food Festival, connect with The White Horse on facebook, visit www.whitehorse.ie or call (021) 4871388.