MacCurtain Street to Close to Traffic All Day on Wednesday for Cork on a Fork Festival

MacCurtain Street in Cork city will be fully closed to traffic all day on Wednesday 12 August 2026, with seven Bus Éireann routes diverted and four bus stops out of service, to facilitate a shared dining event on the first day of Cork on a Fork Fest.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that Cork City Council advised of the closure in order to facilitate the Shared Table Event, part of the Cork on a Fork Festival.

Bus Éireann:

"…MacCurtain Street will be fully closed to traffic all day on Wednesday, 12 August 2026."

As a result, all stops on Bridge Street (216671, 216681) and MacCurtain Street (216531, 216581) will not be served, and all services that travel via MacCurtain Street will be diverted. The routes affected are the 31, 205, 207, 207a, 208, 209 and 214.

Services on Routes 207, 208 and 209 will be diverted in both directions. Outbound services on these routes will travel via Merchants Quay, Brian Boru Bridge and Brian Boru Street before continuing to Summerhill North, with return services covering the same roads in reverse before rejoining St Patrick's Street.

On Routes 31, 205, 207a and 214, only one direction of travel is affected. Route 31 services to Knockraha will operate from Parnell Place via Lower Oliver Plunkett Street, Ship Street and Glanmire Road. Route 205 services to Kent Station will travel via Merchants Quay, Brian Boru Bridge, Brian Boru Street and Alfred Street. Route 207a services to Glenheights and Glenthorn will travel via St Patrick's Bridge, Camden Quay, Christy Ring Bridge, Lavitts Quay and Merchants Quay before crossing Brian Boru Bridge for Summerhill North. Route 214 services to Glyntown will travel via Merchants Quay and Andersons Quay to Ship Street and on to Glanmire Road.

Bus Éireann has advised that services in the opposite direction on Routes 205, 207a and 214 will operate as normal but that some delays should be expected. That applies to Route 205 services from Kent Station to the city and MTU, Route 207a services from Glenheights and Glenthorn to the city, and Route 214 services from Glyntown to the city and CUH. Route 31 services from Knockraha will operate as normal.

Full route-by-route diversion details are available at buseireann.ie/news/cork-on-a-fork.

The closure is being put in place for the VQ Shared Table, sponsored by Birra Moretti. The Eventbrite listing gives the running time as 5pm to 9pm, although Bus Éireann states the road closure applies all day.

The long-table event will seat nearly 500 diners along MacCurtain Street in a collaboration involving businesses from across the Victorian Quarter, and is being weather-proofed this year with a stretch marquee.

Cork on a Fork Fest is a Cork City Council festival and runs from 12 to 16 August 2026. Organisers say the programme features more than 150 food events across the city.

Motorists and public transport users travelling to or through MacCurtain Street on Wednesday should allow extra time.