The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
LISDOONVARNA, ‘the Gateway to the Burren’ and the Loop Head Peninsula, were both named in the The Restaurants Association of Ireland, in association with Admailer.ie from An Post, 10 finalists in the search for the ‘Foodie Town of Ireland’.
Both areas will be looking for public votes to win the competition which is run in conjunction with Irish Restaurant Awards.
The top ten ‘Foodie Towns’ of Ireland were announced at the weekend and among them were Cork City, Kinsale, Dingle/Daingean Uí Chuis, Galway City, Sligo Town, Howth, Kilkenny and the Westport and Clew Bay area.
The ‘Foodie Town of Ireland’ award recognises a destination that actively promotes itself through joint promotional activities such as food festivals, gourmet trails or farmers’ markets as well as great dining experiences.
Each of the ten finalists will now receive a visit to the town by a representative from the Restaurants Association of Ireland and a representative from An Post.
Combined with a national public voting campaign taking place online at www.foodietowns.ie, both components will carry equal weight in the voting process. The closing date for online votes is May 18.
The winning town will then be crowned ‘Foodie Town of Ireland 2014’ at the final of the Irish Restaurant Awards on June 9, and will receive a prize package worth €5,000 combining an Admailer.ie postcard marketing package and mentorship from senior An Post marketing executives to help raise the profile of their town. The nine runners up will each receive an Admailer.ie prize package to value of €500 each.
