The 2nd annual Ballymaloe Literary Festival of Food & Wine is to be sponsored for the next three years by Kerrygold.

Kevin Lane, CEO of the Irish Dairy Board, said: "This festival resonates so well with what we value most at Kerrygold and why consumers around the world love Irish dairy products. It's quite simple – we both value products that are natural, pure and full of goodness. And, of course, with Ireland being the home of literary masters, the marriage of food and words makes such a natural fit."

This year's Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest features René Redzepi of Noma; London-based deli, restaurant and cookbook supremos Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi; Australian cook and artisan food champion Maggie Beer; Mexican cook, food writer and conservationist Diana Kennedy; writer and broadcaster Tom Parker-Bowles; and English chef-writers Simon Hopkinson and Rowley Leigh. The lineup continues to grow with names being added all the time, including Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, the two women behind the award-winning Canal House Cooking collections; ex-Ballymaloe student, MasterChef winner and founder of Wahaca restaurant group, Thomasina Miers; Ben Reade of the Nordic Food Lab, and teacher and writer Sandor Katz, both of whom share a passion for fermentation; and food writer and broadcaster Joanna Blythman.

Home-grown foodies are also on the menu as Ballymaloe's own bestselling authors, Darina Allen, Rachel Allen and Rory O'Connell, host Ireland's finest: Ross Lewis, Paul Flynn, Donal Skehan, Martin Shanahan, Catherine Fulvio, Clodagh McKenna, wine columnists John Wilson, Tomás Clancy, Raymond Blake, Leslie Williams and Mary Dowey, writers Imen McDonnell, Tom Doorley, Nessa Robbins and Lily Higgins and journalists and broadcasters Caroline Hennessy, John Bowman and Ella McSweeney, not forgetting legends in Irish food writing John & Sally McKenna.

Ireland’s only festival dedicated to food and wine writing, the Kerrygold Ballymaloe LitFest runs from May 16th to May 18th. Contact 021 4645777 or litfest.ie