We’ve always been known for our exceptional food.

But now Cork has scooped the top gong for food festivals in Europe from a leading travel website.

Cork on a Fork Fest has been named the number one food festival in Europe by Big 7 Travel, which creates guides to the best places to visit around the world.

Now in its fifth year, the Cork City Council festival – run with Cork’s hospitality, tourism, and food and drink sectors – keeps getting bigger and better, and has become one of Ireland’s most exciting food festivals. It brings together everything from top-notch dining experiences and street feasts to markets, cooking demos, talks, tastings, family-friendly activities, and community events.

Running from August 12th to 16th, there are over 150 events for all ages, and more than half of them are free.

To compile the ranking, the Big 7 Travel team drew up a shortlist of summer food festivals across Europe and scored each one against a consistent set of criteria, weighing up the quality and distinctiveness of the local cuisine on offer, overall atmosphere and visitor experience, accessibility of the location, and each festival’s reputation and popularity among foodie travellers.

“To visit Cork on a Fork is to experience Cork at its most authentic,” said Chester Ollivier of Big 7 Travel.

“From the warm welcome of traders to the sheer scale of the organisation, the event puts Cork among Europe’s great food destinations – a city that strikes a balance between an evolving food scene and heritage cooking.”

The top ten Big 7 European Food Festivals are:

1. Cork on a Fork Festival – Cork, Ireland
2. Copenhagen Cooking – Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Fête de l’Ail Rose – Lautrec, France
4. Sardine Festival – Portimão, Portugal
5. O Carballiño Octopus Festival – Galicia, Spain
6. Alma do Vinho – Alenquer, Portugal
7. Big Feastival – Oxfordshire, England
8. Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival – Galway, Ireland
9. Taste of Transylvania – Ghimeş, Romania
10. Gailtaler Speckfest – Hermagor, Austria