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Belfast Taste & Music Fest, which takes place in Belfast’s Botanic Gardens from 4-8th August 2010, will provide 30 student chefs from colleges across Northern Ireland with valuable on the job training alongside Northern Ireland’s top chefs ‘cooking up a storm’ for an expected 30,000 guests.

This much anticipated five day food and entertainment extravaganza will celebrate the best chefs, cuisine and food products that Northern Ireland has to offer. It is a unique event, which has successfully places both Belfast and Northern Ireland on the ‘must visit’ global culinary map.

Barry Smyth, the culinary director of Taste Fest, comments: “This is an excellent and very valuable opportunity for young trainees to work alongside the top chefs in Ulster, gain valuable experience and make friends for life.” Barry, who lectures at Southern Regional College, has been teaching culinary arts to catering students for five years. “The culinary scene in Northern Ireland has been steadily improving over the past 10 years. The choice of quality catering establishments has grown rapidly and many of our home grown chefs have travelled extensively and returned home and are now running and managing our top restaurants. We are beginning to compare quite favourably to other European countries.”

Cath Gradwell, chef tutor, Belfast Metropolitan College who was responsible for enlisting last year’s trainees commented: “Last year approximately 50 students participated at Taste Fest. The feedback from them all was really positive. They all jumped at the chance to be involved in this event and really enjoyed the experience – many of them asked to be signed up again for this year! A few of the trainees worked with a number of the Chicago chefs who attended last year and have kept in touch with them and have even been offered work placements in Chicago.”

Derek Creagh, who will be representing Kettyle Irish Foods at Taste Fest and will also be hosting kitchen demonstrations, agrees that events like this offer fantastic opportunities for up and coming chefs but feels that more needs to be done to nurture and retain local talent. “I think the local industry needs more support to improve the local skills base. Young people studying to be chefs need more work placements like this to provide them with vital work experience” Derek explains. “If more people eat out and support the local industry then restaurants will employ more young chefs which in turn will encourage them to remain here and develop within the local industry rather than leaving Northern Ireland to find work.”

Uluru proprietor and head chef Dean Coppard is a keen proponent of on the job training opportunities for up and coming chefs. This year he proficiently coached two of his younger staff members to success at the 2009 IFEX Awards. Dean was also involved in mentoring the Armagh delegation of young chefs for the competition. “Without trying to be, Uluru’s sort of turned into a training kitchen” Dean explains. “I think Taste Fest is very important for the industry as in many ways it acts like a stable to bring young new chefs through. These young chefs are the future of the industry - it’s important that we give them recognition for their achievements, and encourage them to push themselves and develop – that in turn creates better service.”

Event organiser Connie Cunningham comments: “We look forward to welcoming the student chefs to this year's Belfast Taste & Music Fest. The feedback we received from those students involved in last year’s event was very encouraging and their participation and hard work is vital to the smooth running of the event. In return, we are confident that they will gain valuable experience which will help them in their future careers.”