There's something about the colder weather that always makes us hungry. When the temperature drops, all we want is a big bowl of stew or soup to warm ourselves up. Fortunately, there are some great food festivals coming up where we can go and eat to our hearts content.

Taste City Fusion

Taste City Fusion is a brand new food festival, run by the same people who organise Taste of Dublin. It's taking place from the 22nd to the 25th of October all across Dublin, with the central hub being Christ Church Cathedral. The main focus is a street food fair, which will be set up in the Cathedral grounds, but if you fancy something a bit more upmarket, you can choose from bottomless brunch in Soder and Ko, cheese and wine appreciation in Le Petit Parisien or an oyster tasting in Klaw. There are plenty of masterclasses happening too, which will help you improve your food knowledge and discover new Irish products.

Savour Kilkenny
The ninth edition of Savour Kilkenny takes places between the 22nd and 26th of October in venues around the county. For the whole bank holiday weekend, the streets of Kilkenny will be taken over with food markets, craft beer tents, and cookery demonstrations from some of the best and most well-known chefs in the country including Neven Maguire and the Happy Pear. One particular highlight of the festival will be the Feed your Mind and Eat Yourself Calm talk with singer and author Bressie, and hosted by hurler Michael Fennelly. This event takes place in the Set Theatre on October 20th.

Bake Fest 2015
If you've spent the past few months glued to the Great British Bake Off, and drooling over the cake based creations, you'll want to pay a visit to the Bake Fest 2015 happening in Leisureland, Galway on October 17th and 18th. The theme for this year's festival is traditional and contemporary Irish baking, so expect Ireland's best bakers to be out in force, showing how far we've come from the days of basic fairy cakes and soda bread.

Burren Food Fayre
Kill two birds with one stone, and visit one of Ireland's most beautiful areas while also sampling some of the county's finest food and drink products. The Burren food fayre takes place in Lisdoonvarna, Co.Clare on October 17th and 18th, you can make a real weekend of it by spending Saturday exploring the Burren and then eating your way through the festival market stalls on the Sunday. Finish the trip off at the festival banquet in the Burren Storehouse.

The Taste of Louth Festival
When they're not playing rugby, the Kearney brothers can often been seen promoting Louth's agricultural produce, in particular its dairy. On the 14th and 15th of November, you can try out the of Louth's food and drink for yourself at the Taste of Louth festival. It's not just glasses on milk and slices of cheese on offer however, there will also be exhibitors showing off the regions whiskeys, baked goods and preserves. In between samples, you can check out some of the cookery demonstrations, which will show you how to make the most of Irish food products at home.

The Allergy and Free From Expo
Food allergies are always a huge topic of conversation, and there is so much misinformation floating around it can be hard to get the facts straight. This exhibition attempts to clear things up by providing information for food allergy suffers, and offering practical lifestyle tips. There will be samples of the best allergen free foods on the market, and recipes and demonstrations aimed at providing inspiration for delish allergen free meals. It takes place in Cork on Halloween weekend, just in time to stock up on Halloween sweets.