Bad weather did not prevent thousands of people from visiting Alcoutim, between the 24th and 26th of March, to participate in the Festival of Contraband. The pedestrian bridge between the Algarve village and its Spanish neighbor of Sanlúcar de Guadiana was the main attraction of an initiative that also had a strong gastronomic, entertainment and cultural component.
In the three days of the festival, there were «10 thousand crossings, counted with the ticket office of the crossing, free tickets for residents and extras, and participants in the Trail test, demonstrating the impact of the event and the potential it offers to our territory, even with the climatological setbacks that restricted access to it on Sunday afternoon», according to the Alcoutim Chamber.
On Saturday, like the Sul Informação you can verify on the spot, the streets were full of people, an unusual scenario in Alcoutim, especially on a day when the weather was unstable and there were periods when the rain fell with some intensity.
And even on Friday, despite being a weekday and the bridge was only open between 17 pm and 00 pm, there was also an unusual movement in the border town that hosted the event, with many people insisting on taking the opportunity to be one of the first to cross the river on the pedestrian bridge.
This was the first edition of an event organized by the municipalities of Alcoutim and Sanlúcar, which is intended to become “an anchor event” in the cultural and entertainment program of both territories in Baixo Guadiana.
«We advanced this year with the first edition, thanks to the support we had from 365 Algarve. We want to continue to elevate this and create here an anchor event for our sub-region, but also in a regional context», he explained to Sul Informação the president of the Chamber of Alcoutim Osvaldo Gonçalves.
«What we intend is to pay homage to the story and the actors and protagonists of a time when, within a context that was explained in the Jornadas do Contrabando. Many people were forced to adopt this practice in difficult times that opposed the law to survival», framed the alcoutenejo mayor.
The festival, reinforced the municipality, "is part of a tourist development strategy in the municipality, based on the promotion of the natural, historical, gastronomic and cultural heritage".
«The towns of Alcoutim and Sanlúcar de Guadiana “dressed up” to the full and provided many visitors with a varied display of cultural events, where you can watch music, theater, traditional arts and crafts, circus art, musical entertainment, where characters such as smugglers and tax guards walked the streets», described the Alcoutim Chamber.
In the meantime, workshops on traditional crafts were held, the theme of the festival was debated at the Jornadas do Contrabando and a sporting event took place, the Trail del Guadiana – Historias de Contrabando.
See the photos of the Festival of Contraband:
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues|Sul Informação and Alcoutim Chamber
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