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festivals · Friday 28 August 2026 · See website for times 
A Taste of Donegal Food Festival
At Donegal Town Pier Area · Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
At Donegal Town Pier Area · Donegal Town, Co. Donegal
One of the north-west’s most established food festivals, A Taste of Donegal brings together over 100 producers, chefs, and artisan traders for three days on the pier in Donegal Town every August Bank Holiday weekend. Now in its 12th year, the festival has grown from a small local market into a genuinely large gathering - the kind that draws food lovers from across Ireland and further afield. If you enjoy good produce, live cookery demonstrations, and the chance to eat and drink your way around a tented village with the Blue Stack Mountains behind you and the Atlantic in front, this is a very good weekend to be in Donegal Town.
The centrepiece is the tented village on the pier, where more than 100 exhibitors set up stalls selling and sampling artisan produce from Donegal and across Ireland - local sausages, farmhouse cheeses, baked goods, preserves, fudge, infused oils, craft beers, Irish spirits, and specialty coffee, among much else. It is the kind of event where you spend far more than you planned and carry bags home you weren’t expecting.
Beyond the market, the programme includes celebrity chef demonstrations and a comedy cookery theatre strand that keeps things from getting too serious. Gin masterclasses and craft beer demonstrations run alongside the main programme for those who want to go a bit deeper into what they’re drinking. For families, The Wobbly Circus Walkabout Street and children’s entertainment run through the weekend, and a fireworks display rounds off one of the evenings. The pier setting gives the whole thing an open, breezy feel - very different from a convention-hall food show.
Exact session times and any ticketed elements vary year to year, so check the official festival website before you travel.
Donegal Town sits at the head of Donegal Bay, roughly 40 minutes south of Letterkenny on the N15 and about two hours north of Sligo on the N15 / N17 corridor. From Dublin the drive is around three hours via the N3 and N15. Bus Eireann operates services into Donegal Town from Dublin and Sligo; the pier is a short walk from the town centre bus stops. Parking in Donegal Town during the festival weekend can be tight - arrive early or use car parks away from the pier and walk in.
Donegal Town is a compact place to explore on foot - the Diamond, Donegal Castle, and the waterfront are all close together, and there are good independent cafes and restaurants to round out a food-focused trip. There is more to see in Donegal and across Co. Donegal.
Heading to Donegal Town Pier Area in Donegal? Donegal has plenty more to see. Read the Donegal area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.