Bushmills Banquet - 'When is the next one?'

Bushmills Banquet was an astounding success, with guest's asking for the date of the next one as they waved goodbye from our stunning venue at The Giant's Causeway Visitor centre. The event truly epitomised the meaning behind 'Embrace the giant spirit', which Tourism NI describe as 'that can-do attitude and the spirit of our communities pulling together and supporting each other through challenging times, our desire to share our country, culture and passion for life.'

Our competition winner Jill Robinson and her friend Norma McIlhatton, both ICU nurses, couldn't have been more deserving recipients and nailed our 'Going Out Out' dress code. Jill has a beautiful property in Bushmills and champions the village and surroundings at every opportunity. 

Our launch of Slow Food Causeway gave us that local food focus. Master Distiller at Old Bushmills Distillery Colum Egan spoilt us with a farewell shot of the newly launched Causeway Collection and added, 'We have it all in this area. Why would we want to go anywhere else? Considering the seriousness of the warnings from the recent COP26, we must stop making lazy choices. Now more than ever, we must support local and do what we can to live sustainably.' The Old Bushmills Distillery is a long term supporter of Taste Causeway, and Colum Egan congratulated the Bushmills Banquet team in producing a menu that included 24 members and 40 odd local businesses.

Thanks to Causeway media solutions and McAuley Multimedia, we have lots of photographs and coverage to share over the coming weeks featuring collaborators and guests. Still, for now, we want to thank the fantastic team from the many collaborating businesses who pulled together last night and worked hard to make it the success it was. It was an 'all hands on deck event, and everyone involved should feel really proud of the part they played. This is why we have such fantastic restaurant's and producers on the North Coast!

 'Come wander with me' and The Oat box transformed the venue for us we almost didn't want to dismantle everything. Our Taste Causeway friends, The Greenhouse brothers, provided us with micro herbs that featured on several dishes and created our stunning table flower displays.

The team at the Giant's Causeway visitor centre entrusted us with organising the first event of this nature in their building and could not have been more supportive. Many of centre staff became Banquet team volunteers, and we have warned them, as we packed up ..........we will be back!.

We cant wait to share the pictures with you!