VIDEO: First look inside Londonderry's new Clipper Quay Street Food Market

Following the festival, the Clipper Quay Street Food Market will open seven days a week after its official launch party next weekend.

Five businesses, including some of Londonderry’s most popular home-grown eateries, were busy this week getting their kitchens and prep ready in time for the newly-licensed establishment’s opening. The restaurant collective features Notorious, El Tapas Grá, Bee Eater, Wok Hey! chinese food, and, all the way from New York, Lewis Oliver’s Cugino’s Pizzeria.

Co-founders Dean Doherty and Conor Mullan have brought the project to life with the support and encouragement of their families and colleagues following months of meticulous research – including trips to other street food markets in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Belfast.

Conor said: “We wanted to bring something different to the town because the likes of Belfast have two different street food markets and we thought Londonderry-Derry was just missing something.

"It’s been a lot of work but everyone has just pulled together. We’ve had a lot of help from friends and family and all the contractors here, and it is going well, we are nearly at the finish line.

"We can’t wait now especially after the getting the license today. We are absolutely buzzing.”

Meanwhile Lewis Oliver, who has flown over from the US to introduce Cugino’s to Northern Ireland, promised an authentic offering of New York pizza.

Lewis, whose wife is Conor’s cousin, said: “He came to me a few months ago with this idea, and I looked at him and I said, ‘yeah, why not? let’s do it’.

"I think it will be great. What’s better than having a New York-style pizza than with a guy from New York! We have got pans that are coming in tomorrow and after that it will be the big pizza slices.

"We’ll also be doing chicken wings, tenders, mozzarella sticks, regular french fries and waffle fries with some different flavours of wings.”

"There will be a buffalo sauce, honey barbecue, and maybe down the road we’ll do a peanut butter and jelly wing. Then we have the raspberry sauce with the mozzarella sticks, which is a New York thing. We’ll have different style pizzas too: a white broccoli, a buffalo chicken, barbecue chicken and a Philly cheesesteak.”

Conor and Dean said they would love to thank architect Eddie Kerr, solicitor Cormac McKeown, Mary White, Paul Diamond, Building Manager Seamy Deans, AT Joinery & Kitchen Fitting, Derry City & Strabane District Council Planning and Building Control, and their devoted partners and families.

Clipper Quay Street Food Market is open through to Sunday. It will then close for a few days in preparation for the official launch party next week and permanent opening seven days a week thereafter from 11am to 10pm Monday to Thursday, 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday and 12pm to 9pm on Sundays.

Tickets priced at £25 are currently on sale for the official launch nights. For more information checks out Clipper Quay Street Food’s social media pages.

You can find them out https://www.instagram.com/clipperquaystreetfood/