Kokova Magazine

Once again the Isle of Man will be hosting its Queenie Festival between 1 July and 3 July 2011.

The Isle of Man Queenie Festival is a food festival celebrating the local delicacy of the Manx Queenie.

The Manx Queenie is the local name for the Queen Scallop (Chlamys opercularis) a close cousin of the King Scallop caught in and around the Isle of Man's clear waters between June and October each year.

The islands food festival is building on the success of previous years event and will host many events for the public including seafood beach bbq's, celebrity cooking demonstrations, local community and hospitality recipe competitions and public tasting events.

Previous visitors to the festival have included Dave Myers and Si King as well as Mitch Tonks and Mark Hix.

The Isle of Man Queenie Festival is a must. The Queenie Scallop is one of the culinary treasures of Britain, here you can learn how to utilize this sustainable, tasty, product.

The Isle of Man produces the best Queenie Scallops in the world, where better to discover this than among the boats and fishermen of the wonderful Isle of Man. Not forgetting all the other attractions, it’s a great event.

The Hairy Bikers spoke of the Queenie Festival

It is hoped that the Isle of Man Queenie Festival will continue to expand and become a leading UK food festival appealing to many audiences including lovers of food, nature, wildlife, conservation, leisure sports and recreation.

This years Queenie Festival will run in the south of the island.

Many of the events within the festival will involve local drama groups, street theatre, school children, artists, actors, storytellers and volunteers and will certainly offer a fantastic opportunity for the whole community to become apart of.

Once again the Queenie Festival finale will be the Marine Day, 'A Celebration Of The Sea' to be held around Paddy's Market in Port St Mary on Saturday the 2nd and Sunday 3rd July and will attract some 6,000 people including National television crews over the weekend.

Marine Day will include a number of attractions including touch tanks, seafood barbecues, cooking demonstrations from Caprice Holdings chefs, Simon Wadham and Richard Kirkwood, marine lectures, local music, model fishing boats and fishing demonstrations, a trawler race plus much more.

This is all about concentrating on our assets, identifying what sets us apart, our superb Manx Queenies, wonderful marine coastline and great potential for leisure and recreation.

Embracing these elements into a festival atmosphere makes perfect sense. Make sure you book up now and put the dates in your diary, it promises to be an event not to be missed!

Tim Croft, event organiser

Once again two top UK chef's will cook up some great seafood and Queenie treats for festival goers this year!

Simon Wadham - Head Chef - Rivington Grill
Born on the Isle of Wight, Simon attended Kingham Hill School in Oxfordshire before joining the army aged 15, serving abroad for the next seven years.

Upon leaving the army he began working at the fashionable Joe’s Café in South Kensington. He then went to work for Oliver Peyton at Atlantic Bar & Grill, spending the next ten years working for Peyton, at most of his operations at one stage or another.

In 2007, Simon joined Caprice Holdings as Head Chef at Rivington Grill Shoreditch and Greenwich where he works with locally sourced produce, creating distinctively British dishes. Outside of the kitchen, Simon is interested in film, mountain sports and sky diving.

Richard Kirkwood - Head Chef - J Sheekey & J Sheekey Oyster Bar
After school, Richard began working at Malmaison in his home city of Edinburgh. On moving to London he worked at The Hyde Park Hotel before joining Le Caprice as Demi Chef de Partie.

In 1998 he helped to open the newly-refurbished J Sheekey as Junior Sous Chef. After taking a year off to travel he returned in 2003, working at Le Coq d’Argent and then rejoining Caprice Holdings at The Ivy. He took a break to help open the Paternoster Chop House before returning to The Ivy. In 2006, he moved back to J Sheekey as Senior Sous Chef and in 2009 was promoted to Head Chef.

For further details including latest news on the Manx Queenie Festival including a full events programme please visit www.queeniefestival.com