The first edition of the Algarve’s Forgotten Food Festival (Festival da Comida Esquecida) will come to a close with a party in Querença (Loulé) this Saturday starting at 10.30am and running until 3pm.
The closing event, entitled ‘Memória’, hopes to create a “lasting memory” for those attending by serving meals that symbolise the region’s roots and traditions.
Guests will choose one of three menus, “each dedicated to one of the three main regions of the Algarve, all of them present in the municipality of Loulé: Serra (Mountains), Barrocal (Transition), Litoral (Coastline)”.
Dishes will be prepared by experienced chefs who are well versed in the local gastronomy, such as Margarida Vargues, Abílio Guerreiro, António Rosa and Jesus Dias.
There will also be entertainment, including live music and the reciting of stories connected to the Algarve’s history.
However, as expected, Covid-19 restrictions will be in place.
Organisers say the event has been “changed and adapted in order to respect all the guidelines from the national health board (DGS) and ensure the safety of everyone while still maintaining its identity and essence”.
Guests will be required to wear masks when they arrive and disinfect their hands at the entrance. And while the party will be held outdoors, ‘circulation corridors’ have been created to ensure social distancing.
Tickets cost €20 for adults and €10 for children aged seven to 14 and can be purchased online at https://qrer.bol.pt
This event will differ from those already held, which have been described as “charm picnics”. These picnics started with a small walk to the picnic site where participants will enjoy a special meal made by a chef using local ingredients.
The ‘Forgotten Food’ Festival was created by QRER, a group of entities dedicated to developing low density territories, to shine the spotlight on traditional products that are disappearing from our tables because they are “associated with poverty or have lost their agricultural value”.
It is one of the headlining events of the region’s ‘365 Algarve’ cultural programme, devised to improve the region’s cultural agenda outside of the summer season.
This year, however, it was extended into the summer season due to the pandemic.
