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Slow Food Mediterranean Conference in Malta

Two years ago the small Slow Food group on Malta was approached with the idea of a dedicated Slow Food Mediterranean festival which would be held in a well known venue on the Island of Malta, the aim was to bring artisan olive oil and food producers from Malta and Sicily together for the first time in this way.
Festivaldelgusto are now very pleased that working together with Slow Food Malta and with Slow Food Sicilia as well as Slow Food Anglia on plans to bring the first artisan food festival of this type to the Island in June 2017.
This October 29th 2016 there will be a Slow Food conference on Malta at the Excelsior Hotel in Valletta to promote the festival and to raise awareness of the Slow Food group on Malta. there will be workshops and talks during this one day event and there will be a maximum of 80 places available to both Slow Food members and other guests.
The groups in their respective countries are all very passionate about the ethos and also the work of Slow Food as an organisation carries out throughout the globe and they believe that by holding this conference on Malta they will then showcase to the public what is best about artisan foods made by producers belonging to Slow Food both on Malta and in Sicily.
Slow Food Anglia will be playing a part in both the organisation and planning of the conference because of they had also previously worked with us at Festivaldelgusto in the Marche region of Italy and in the East of England they have now asked us to be come involved and we will be visiting Malta several times over the summer months before the event is held in October..




The Island of Malta is less than 120 kilometres, 70 miles south of Sicily and their climate and landscape are very similar, most Maltese speak English fluently as a second language, many also speak Italian and have connections with Sicily going back many generations. This makes holding a true artisan food festival on the Island in 2017 a very exciting experience and we all believe that it will be a very popular event, and if the first festival proves successful will then be held on an annual basis on Malta each autumn or spring.
Slow Food Anglia are involved as they have ties going back many years on the Island of Malta and were approached last year by Slow Food Sicilia to "Twin" with them at a special ceremony held in London in the summer of 2015. As part of the cooperative work that they wish to carry out after signing the protocol in London both groups now wish to work together on a very special type of food and promotional event and Slow Food in Malta are very keen to have a dedicated event on the Island to promote artisan Maltese producers.





The joint groups have called the event, the Slow Food Mediterranean conference and they plan to have a minimum of twenty artisan producers who are members of Slow Food take part in the conference, with a maximum of eighty guests for this first event as we wish to give each producer as high a profile as possible by restricting numbers for the first year that it will be held on Malta.
The producers at the conference will include makers of high quality extra virgin olive oils, preserves, smoked meats and a wide variety of typical Italian and Maltese produce, there will also be input from local Maltese groups with a special emphasis on traditional Maltese food and culture.
The annual cultural music and heritage Festival Mediterranea which takes place annually on the small Island of Gozo for several weeks from the end of October and we believe that the Slow Food event on Malta will tie in perfectly with this prestigious festival by promoting the artisan food and drink heritage of the Maltese and Sicilian Islands.
More details of the venue, producers and dates will be available on this blog and also on the dedicated Slow Food Mediterranean website and on our Facebook page over the next couple of months as the plans unfold by the three Slow Food groups for this exciting festival.




Comments

  1. Looks like this will be a wonderful program! I'll be in Greece in October so will consider attending.

    ReplyDelete

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