The city is coming back to life.

With green shoots popping up all over the place after months in lockdown, now there’s another reason to be cheerful about the near future in Cork; one of the most exciting food and design festivals has been relaunched.

Following its hugely successful debut in Cork in spring 2019, Design POP is gearing up to return from August 28th-30th, 2020.

“After months of careful deliberations, it was really important that we found a way to make it happen, even in our strange new reality amid the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Festival Director Amy McKeogh.

 

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“This year’s theme for the festival is Resilience, this theme will be explored through the pavilions, talks, and conversations, happening over the weekend. Design POP’s overall festival structure has been rearranged to ensure that all social distancing requirements are met, without sacrificing any of the amazing events, experiences, and interactions shared.”

Here’s what’s happening:

For the amended 2020 edition, Design POP will bring together three top Irish design teams to create three pop-up installation structures, which will go on display in various outdoor locations across Cork city. Each designer is paired with a Cork-based food or drink producer to create a bespoke space which the public is invited to explore and interact with.

The new pairings for the 2020 festival are:

• Ciarán Meade and Mark Cronin from Bobo’s Cafe team up with computational designer Mark Horgan to create a pavilion at Elizabeth Fort.
• The Crawford Gallery Café join forces with a collective of young architects and designers for a pavilion at Emmet Place.
• Blackrock Castle and Observatory team up with Cork Architectural School for a pavilion at Blackrock Castle.

The festival will also feature an impressive programme of talks, panel discussions, workshops and exhibitions, which will take place at the festival HQ, Thompson House, MacCurtain Street, allowing architects, creatives, food stylists, producers, designers, and artists, to discuss and showcase their work processes.

Thompson House will also be home to a pop-up Irish Design Shop for the duration of the festival, showcasing some of Ireland’s best handcrafted textiles, prints and artworks.

Special guests will be announced soon so keep an eye on the Design Pop website for updates.