Gastronomic Events, Fairs and Festivals
Travel around Catalonia through the various fairs and gastronomic festivals that are held from one end of the region to the other throughout the year.
January
The Great Calçotada Festival
Where: Valls
Product: calçots
This festival includes a varied programme of events with traditional roots and contests related to calçots.
The Great Calçotada Festival / Oriol Llauradó
Les Garrigues Quality Extra Virgin Oil Fair
Where: Les Borges Blanques
Product: Les Garrigues PDO olive oil
Les Borges Blanques is the oil capital of Catalonia and, for more than fifty years, a fair has been held there with this “liquid gold” as the star of the show, providing more than 5,000 square metres of exhibition space for traders and oil producers from across the country.
February
Mantis Shrimp Festival in the Port
Where: Cambrils
Product: mantis shrimp
A gastronomic day that includes guided tours by the Fishermen’s Guild, culinary workshops for young chefs and demonstrations of Lateen sailing, among other activities.
March
Barcelona Beer Festival
Where: Barcelona
Product: craft beer
The Barcelona Beer Festival has become the most important craft beer festival in southern Europe. Over an entire weekend, you can taste more than 350 draught beers, with the leading Catalan and international craft beers well represented, accompanied by a variety of quality gastro pub grub. In addition, throughout the event, there will be conferences, tastings, pairings, workshops and many other activities related to the world and culture of beer.
Barcelona Beer Festival / Beer Events
Mercat del Ram (linked to the celebration of Palm Sunday) and Lactium, the Cheese Fair
Where: Vic
Products: agricultural products and Catalan artisan cheese
A great festival in which there are livestock exhibitions, agricultural products, leisure, cultural and commercial activities. The Lactium craft cheese fair is also part of the event.
April
Mercat del Ram (linked to the celebration of Palm Sunday) and Lactium, the Cheese Fair
Where: Vic
Products: agricultural products and Catalan artisan cheese
A great festival in which there are livestock exhibitions, agricultural products, leisure, cultural and commercial activities. The Lactium craft cheese fair is also part of the event.
May
Aplec del Cargol (Snail Event)
Where: Lleida
Product: snails
This is a great community festival, which has a major impact on the area and focuses on snails as a gastronomic product.
June
Rice Planting Festival
Where: Amposta, Deltebre, l’Ampolla and Sant Jaume d’Enveja
Product: rice
Through the staging of a 19th century rice plantation, this traditional festival aims to recover some of the aspects of popular culture which were typical in the Ebro Delta area.
September
Rice Harvest Festival
Where: Amposta, Deltebre, l’Ampolla and Sant Jaume d’Enveja
Product: rice
The various by-gone rice harvesting techniques are reproduced. Musical performances and community meals are also planned.
Rice Harvest Festival / Lluís Carro
October
The Market of Markets
Where: Barcelona
Products: fresh food
Products from Barcelona’s markets are on display with the local Catalan ingredients such as wine, fish, seafood, cold meats and cheeses, as well as freshly baked bread and pastries being the star products.
Sant Ermengol Fair
Where: La Seu d’Urgell
Product: cheese from the Pyrenees
The fair brings together more than forty artisan cheesemakers, from all over the Pyrenees, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic and from both the northern and southern slopes of the mountain range. Conferences and workshops take place on the fringe of the event.
Cheese from the Pyrenees / Servicios Editoriales Georama
November
Siurana de Reus PDO Oil Fair – New Oil Festival
Where: Reus
Products: Siurana PDO olive oil
It is the first fair in which attendees have the opportunity to taste and buy more than twenty different oils of the Designation of Origin Siurana.
Origins Fair
Where: Olot
Product: gourmet products and cuisine
Local chefs offer live cooking sessions, showcasing their latest creations and recommending the best local produce.
Welcome to the Farm
Welcome to the Farm proposes a weekend with a visit to various agricultural and livestock farms and the chance to taste the best menus made with local products from all over Catalonia.
It is a joint initiative of the Alícia Foundation and the Government of Catalonia, with the aim of highlighting the rural world, inland tourism and the potential of Catalan gastronomy in order to have first-hand knowledge of what we consume and where it comes from.
For one weekend a year, producers from all over the territory open the doors of their businesses to show their fields, their flocks and their workers to the public. Guided activities are organised and you can visit farms around the area, taste special menus with local products in selected restaurants and take advantage of special offers on accommodation, in addition to the various activities organised for the occasion.
More information: benvingutsapages.cat/en/
Welcome to the Farm / ACT