After celebrating the 10th anniversary of the inscription of the MD as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 4 December 2023, 2024 will be a special date for Tavira.
There are numerous projects that we have been developing within the community with the aim of safeguarding and disseminate the Mediterranean Diet, namely craft workshops, culinary demonstrations, and wine tastings.
This year, I cannot fail to highlight the Mediterranean Diet Fair. The fair has grown and diversified without losing the principles underlying the Mediterranean Diet.
This is the project that involves the most entities and counts on the participation of numerous Heritage Sites recognized by Unesco during its implementation. Over the course of approximately 8 months, a group of regional organizations works to ensure that Tavira receives, on the first weekend of September, what is best produced in terms of the Mediterranean diet at a local, regional, national, and international level.
The program reflects the broad partnership work that has been developed since the first edition, which includes an institutional fair with the presence of other countries, national, regional, and local institutions, various intangible cultural heritage classified by UNESCO, crafts exhibitors, and traditional products, botanical and seed displays, restaurants, gastronomic demonstrations, tastings and snacks, Portuguese and Mediterranean music with live concerts with groups from countries located in the Mediterranean. The vast program also includes, among many other activities, workshops, traditional dances and other performing arts, exhibitions, visits to natural heritage, and seminars, among others.
This year, for the second time, Portugal will lead this group of seven countries that have communities representing the Mediterranean Diet. It will be months of intense work that we hope will enhance the Mediterranean Diet, placing special emphasis on safeguarding this heritage and passing it on to new generations. The municipality aims to collaborate closely and share knowledge with other communities. The Mediterranean diet is wide-ranging, but it is the municipality’s intention, without losing its traditions, to focus its attention on sustainability issues.
In our opinion, the Mediterranean diet is an essential vehicle for raising public awareness of sustainability issues, to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals defined by the UN.
It is with great pride, but also responsibility, that the Municipality of Tavira is the representative community of the Mediterranean Diet in Portugal. Even though Tavira is the representative community, this path has not been taken alone. Many local, regional, and national entities, as well as some individuals, joined us from the beginning to prepare the application, and, over the years, they have been working to promote this lifestyle. This is how we will have to continue our mission, because only in this way can we be successful in safeguarding this heritage, which belongs to everyone!
The mayor of Tavira
Ana Paula Martins
