The BBC Food and Farming Awards ceremony will take place in Northern Ireland for the first time in 2026, at Titanic Belfast in October.

Nominations for the awards are free and are now open. The closing date is 12 noon on Monday 15 June 2026. Individuals may nominate themselves or others.

A new category for 2026, the BBC Radio Ulster Food Hero Award, will specifically recognise people and projects in Northern Ireland. BBC programmes Your Place and Mine and Your Farm and Mine will help share the stories of local nominees.

The awards span farmers, growers, producers, cooks, makers, retailers, innovators and food champions from across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

To mark the launch of nominations, a discussion between chef Paula McIntyre and food journalist Sheila Dillon was recorded at the Balmoral Show. The conversation is part of a new audio strand, Food Stories from Here, produced by Napoleon’s Nose.