An exhibition- Farmer’s market was held on September 11 and 12 in Kurtovo Konare, Bulgaria. During the two days we had interesting events, which we realized thanks to the project of the local association “Presidium – Kurtovo Konare” – Memory for the future “, which is funded by LIFE, with the support of the EU.
The farmers ‘market was attended by 14 local producers, 5 stands of Slow Food communities in Bulgaria and other representatives of farmers’ markets – a total of 25 stands.
The sunny weather attracted many visitors who managed to taste and buy from the offered products – food, canned food, fruits and vegetables. This market has been held annually for the last 13 years and is gaining more and more popularity with the supply of clean and tasty food. Local producers say they are happy with the sales and that more and more of their products are sought after from different parts of the country.
There were interesting competitions: Queen of Lutenitsa, Most attractive stand, Keeper of tradition. The awards were presented by Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Bulgaria – Mr. Georgi Sabev and by representatives of the local authorities. As part of the event, an exhibition with an accent was opened on the square among the stands – the people from the local Presidium. The photos also featured Slow Food, as well as local products, some of which are listed in the Ark of Taste. For the first time we managed to organize a meeting of representatives of Slow Food communities from the country with the participation of experts from scientific institutes. The meeting took place on September 10, from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm in the beautiful park of one of the palaces of the last Bulgarian tsar – Tsar Boris III. Guests also had the opportunity to walk in this remarkable place with nature and history, which is located in Kurtovo Konare. The discussion passed with great interest under the title – “Food – part of the cultural heritage of local communities.” Interesting presentations were made by Assoc. Prof. Desislava Dimitrova – Slow Food Coordinator for Bulgaria and Emilia Shusharova – President of the Association “Presidium-Kurtovo Konare”. The representatives of the Slow Food communities present posed a number of problems facing small producers due to unregulated regulatory mechanisms in Bulgaria. Everyone agreed that we should preserve our culinary traditions. Representatives of the Department of Ethnology from the University of Plovdiv also actively participated in the discussion.
The evening continued in informal conversations and presentation of a food stand from Kurtovo Konare. Our guests continued their meetings the next day, when they had the opportunity to talk to guests at the farmers market and present their products. On September 11, we held the Disco Soup initiative with the participation of young volunteers and a lot of mood. The idea was to focus on food waste. Members of the association prepared the famous local lyutenitsa, with which we treated all the guests.
The farmers’ market is usually held as part of the annual and already well-known in the country three-day Kurtovo Konare Fest. This year, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we could not hold the festival. For this reason, we shortened the days from three to two, we also shortened the planned rich music program, but we managed to implement all the activities planned in the project in compliance with strict measures and conducting initiatives only outdoors.
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