Medronho will be “king” in Monchique, on April 1st and 2nd, with the 2nd Festival of Medronho de Monchique, at Heliporto Municipal.
The Municipality of Monchique says that "this festival testifies to the importance that the medronho has in the economy, in the social fabric, in the creation of a tourist offer and, above all, in the transmission of traditions allied to the perspective of modernization".
More than an exhibition of products and producers, this event will debate the future of activities related to the fruit, it will have artistic meetings, magic with stills, showcookings, music, cinema, motorsport… always with a common denominator: the medronho.
During the Medronho Festival, topics such as “What is Portuguese is good! On the internationalization of Medronho and other traditional/regional products” and “Good ideas do not have age, nor do they wear out – On the modernization of traditional products such as medronho”.
According to the Monchiquense municipality, this second edition of the event brings together "practical cases and successful companies with projects to modernize traditional products and interesting internationalization and marketing strategies."
Among the guests are Marta Aragão, trainer and marketer, José Conceição, vice president of the association of fig producers of India, José Oliveira, general director of Areal, António Magalhães, representative of NKA and the project “Algarve Store & Business Online”, Ana Marques Pereira, author of several books about the universe of cuisine and cuisine over the centuries, Álvaro Viegas, president of ACRAL, or representatives of Conserveira de Lisboa.
To explore the medronho as a drink, the “Flair Bartending” competition will be held and, during the Festival, there will also be an exhibition of all brands of Aguardente de Medronho bottled in Monchique in the last 40 years. “All these bottles have a history. A story of family, process, marketing», says the municipality.
Already «to energize the arbutus as a fruit», there will be in the “Espaço Sabores” several moments of showcooking, promoted by the Association of Cooks and Confectioners of the Algarve, as well as samples and tastings of sweets, jams and liqueurs from medronho, as well as moments of presentation of traditional sweets reinvented by local pastries, always with the medronho present.
In this aspect, the festival invites to a union of flavors, with the presence of international cuisine chefs, such as Valéria Olivari, Head Peruvian, which will create typical dishes from its country of origin but with medronho.
In terms of animation, there will be magic shows with stills with Carlos Rivotti, fado with Adriana Marques, Custódio Castelo and João Chora, Stand Up Comedy with Sandro Colaço and performance of the Grupo de Cantares da Confraria do Medronho.
In addition, live demonstrations of the distillation process with stills are scheduled, the documentary on the production of arbutus brandy – Casa do Medronho de Marmelete will be shown and the project “Terra” will be presented, a discographic work, of solidarity character, which emerged following the fires of September 2016, in the Serra de Monchique. This presentation will be preceded by a concert with two bands participating in the project: Helena Madeira (voice and harp) and OrBlua (voice and percussion).
The Medronho de Monchique Festival will also receive an exhibition of brandies from around the world and the Contest of Bottle Labels from the Medronho de Monchique brandy producers present at the event.
The event is promoted by the Municipality of Monchique, in partnership with the Association of Brandy Producers of Medronho (APAGARBE) and the Confraria do Medronho.
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