FATACIL, which will take place between the 16th and 25th of August, in Lagoa, will have a technological tent for the youngest visitors, another 10 square meters of space for exhibitors and a new stage, located on the lawn of the Josino da Costa Stadium. The reusable cup will also debut. These are the main news of the 40th edition of the most important summer event south of the Tagus.
Luís Encarnação, the new mayor of Lagoa, presented FATACIL this Thursday at a press conference. The first novelty, he announced, was the decision to «change the location of the stage», which leaves the fairgrounds for the adjacent Josino da Costa Stadium.
«Taking advantage of the need to replace the lawn and the drainage of the stadium, we decided to place the stage at the western top of the lawn», explained the mayor.
This freed up the space previously occupied by the stage, about 10 thousand square meters (one hectare), to accommodate more exhibitors, increasing “the fair's usable area to almost 60 thousand square meters”.
The change also made it possible to “resize the exhibition space” throughout the fair, to ensure “better circulation for people”. With these changes and with the addition of an additional hectare of space, it will be possible to go from a maximum daily capacity of 20 thousand people to 25 thousand.
Taking into account that, last year, there were 180 thousand visitors, over the usual ten days of FATACIL, Luís Encarnação admitted that this increase in space will make it more convenient to circulate in the venue. The electronic means used at entrances and exits allow the organization “to measure the number of visitors at any time present in the space”. However, to ensure greater security, "the number of surveillance cameras" was also increased.
And because the mayor wants «the history of the difficulties in reaching Lagoa and Fatacil to be part of the past», an increased effort is being made, together with the GNR, in facilitating access, but also in the creation of more parking areas and faster access to ticket offices. The solution was already tested last year, «and it went very well», so this year there will be «more parking spaces and more ticket offices in operation».
Another novelty will be the introduction of the reusable plastic cup, which will cost 1 euro and can be returned at the end. «The challenge is to reduce the plastic waste produced at FATACIL», explained Luís Encarnação.
In handicraft, which was once the flagship sector of the event, this year there was a new effort to «separate the wheat from the chaff». With the partnership of the Association of Artisans of the Algarve, artisans will be working live, in a section dedicated to them. And your participation in the fair may even be free. «Artisans who work five or more hours live, in practice, will be at FATACIL free of charge, because the registration fee will be refunded to them», said the mayor.
Taking advantage of the «large showcase of products from Lagoa and the Algarve», or even national, that the fair is, in the lounge there will always be the possibility to taste the Algarve wines. And, this year, there will even be sunsets from 18:30 pm, with live music and a glass of wine in hand.
As every year, since 2015, «we also received at the fair the Portuguese City of Wine, or European, when it coincides with the Portuguese City», this time the guest will be Peso da Régua, a city on the banks of the Douro river.
Mário Dias, deputy regional director of Agriculture, also present at the press conference, announced that, in the institutional tent of this entity that has “always supported FATACIL” there will also be other official bodies, such as ICNF, with an exhibition on Fire Prevention Florestais, the Regional Directorate of Culture, showing the Algarve Heritage, the company Águas do Algarve, with its campaign for the efficient use of water, Docapesca, promoting the Algarve's sea species, or even the Local Action Groups ( Vicentina, In Loco and Terras do Baixo Guadiana).
In the already usual space “aMaraTerra”, “a lot of importance will be given to regional products”, namely dried fruits, sweets, sausages, seafood, associated handicrafts.
Another space that is already a tradition at the fair is that of indigenous breeds. There will be examples of the Algarve goat, the Algarve churra sheep and the Algarve cow, «a breed that was thought to be lost and that we are making a great effort to recover».
Linked to this more land-to-earth area, although under the direction of Emídio Paias, is the equestrian sector of FATACIL, which has already become a «reference not only nationally, but also internationally». The poster is strong and even attracts riders and other fans from all over the country and even from Spain.
In terms of shows, Emídio Paias drew attention to the «absolute debut in Portugal» of the Spaniard Paco Martos, with «Cavalgarve», on the 21st, 24th and 25th, at 21 pm.
Another highlight is the Iberian Night, which brings together Alvaro Tebas, the current Spanish champion of Doma Vaquera, hand to hand with Miguel Fonseca, Portugal's champion in Working Equitation, and Manuel Veiga, Portugal's Dressage champion, all accompanied by Ricardo Martins' Portuguese guitar and flamenco guitar. It will be on the 22nd of August, also at 21 pm.
«This year, for the first time, our concern is to support what is in danger of extinction, so we will have here a presentation of Burro Ville, with its donkeys of the Mirandesa breed, the only one in Portugal and of which there are only 800 copies .
Another novelty in the equestrian sector will be the possibility of offering visitors to the fair their “baptism on horseback”, which will be carried out by the five riding schools present and which will even entitle them to a beautiful diploma.
In a year in which FATACIL's partner is the Association of Municipalities Terras do Infante, which integrates Lagos, Aljezur and Vila do Bispo, who can prove that they were born on June 21, 1980 (the opening day of the first edition of FATACIL, then still with the name of Feira Regional de Lagoa) will be entitled to free entry to the event.
As for tickets, prices have increased by 50 cents – the daily ticket will cost 4 euros, the family ticket 14 euros and the bracelet for the 10 days will cost 25 euros.
FATACIL's 2019 budget is "around one million euros", with the shows alone costing the organization 202 euros. And this part is very important and aimed at all audiences: on the very first night, the Xutos & Pontapés perform, which, like the fair, celebrates 40 years. The Calema arrives on Saturday night, the 17th. On Sunday, the 18th, it is the day of Zebra Sépia – Lagoa group finalist in the Musica Já contest – and the Wet Bed Gang.
João Pedro Pais takes the stage on Monday night, the 19th, and Matias Damásio on Tuesday, the 20th. In the middle of the week, Quim Barreiros promises entertainment.
Blaya will play on Thursday, the 22nd. The last three nights will host Jorge Palma, on the 23rd, Mariza, on the 24th, and Richie Campbell, closing on the 25th of August. In other words, everything is ready for another major edition of FATACIL.
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