Organisers of Serra da Estrela cheese fest embrace cheeses from Spain and Holland
The Oliveira do Hospital Serra da Estrela Cheese Festival is this year taking steps to becoming ‘an international affair’, with 250 exhibitors expected when it begins at the end of March, including producers from Spain and the Netherlands.
The local municipality which organises the event tells Lusa: “This year’s focus is (the fair’s) internationalisation as a major event in the Central region, with a notable impact on the area’s traditional economy”.
Mayor José Francisco Rolo stressed the event “brings gains in terms of Oliveira do Hospital’s notoriety, particularly in terms of tourism promotion, brand promotion and, therefore, the recognition of this territory.”
Two cheeses from Spain are to be represented at the event – one from Léon and the other from the Basque Country – as well as a cheese from the centre-east of the Netherlands, while the ‘queen of the show’ “will naturally be Serra da Estrela cheese with five cheese dairies with a protected designation of origin“.
The fair will also be showcasing regional Dão wines, smoked meats and sausages, traditional baked goods, sweets, liqueurs, “in other words, all the quality local products”, said the mayor.
Over the two days, roughly 50,000 visitors are expected to pass through the event, which, in the mayor’s perspective is a wonderful window in on “the genuine, authentic rural world that continues to persist: a demonstration of the strength and vitality of the (Portuguese) interior.”
A festival that represents an investment of around €120,000 ends up benefiting restaurants/ tourism/ hotels etc, to the tune of an impact on the economy of more than €2.5 million, he estimates.
The two days will see visitors enjoying wine and cheese tastings, live sheep-shearing and cheese-making, as well as an exhibition of livestock.
On the afternoon of the first day, the 32nd meeting of the Serra da Estrela Cheese Brotherhood will also take place, with more than 40 brotherhoods from all over the country and abroad expected to take part.
LUSA
