Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), the Seafood Development Agency were delighted to sponsor another successful Connemara Mussel Festival in Renvyle, Connemara over the May bank holiday weekend.
Pictured: Visitors at Connemara Mussel Festival sponsored by BIM enjoying Irish rope mussels cooked using the French method ‘Moules Eclades’
Now in its 11th year, the festival has gone from strength to strength and this year it reached new heights with half a tonne of Irish mussels, sourced from local producer Marty’s Mussels, consumed at the three day event!
Linking in with the festival was the opportunity to profile BIM’s ‘Taste the Atlantic – a Seafood Journey’ trail in partnership with Failte Ireland. The trail is designed to profile seafood producers and restaurants on the Wild Atlantic Way, to inform visitors as to the provenance of the seafood, how it was caught or farmed, and to introduce the passionate producers behind the business.
Marty’s Mussels are one of the excellent seafood ambassadors on the ‘Taste the Atlantic – a Seafood Journey’ cultivating high quality sustainable rope mussels in Killary Bay. As a member of the trail and the main supplier to the Connemara Mussel Festival, this husband and wife team, Marty and Catherine Nee are delighted to be an integral part of the festival and the Taste the Atlantic initiative as Catherine explains; ‘It is truly amazing to see how much this event has grown over the years and that is down to the hard work of the organising committee and the wider community. We had a full attendance over the three days and the volume of mussels eaten over that time breaks all festival records! We are proud to be part of the festival and of the BIM and Failte Ireland Taste the Atlantic trail that has already resulted in a 40% increase in sales for our business’
Featuring a busy schedule of events including music sessions, local archaeological tours and seafood cookery demos with renowned chefs from Ashford Castle, Kai Restaurant, Oscar’s Bistro and Renvyle House Hotel; local Irish seafood was showcased at every opportunity.
