11th Jaén First Oil Festival

Description

The First Oil Festival marks the start of a new harvest and showcases the excellence of the extra virgin olive oil produced in Jaén. Organised by the Diputación de Jaén for more than a decade, it celebrates the beginning of the olive-harvesting season.The traditional Jaén First Oil Festival is held in November to celebrate the start of the olive-harvesting season across the Jaén region, promoting early-harvest extra virgin olive oils through culinary demonstrations, tastings, workshops, sampling sessions, talks, sales and activities for all audiences, including children. This eleventh edition, held in Andújar on 9 and 10 November, featured more than fifty initiatives: tastings of oils from Jaén's designations of origin and the 'Aceite de Jaén' PGI; guided tours and routes around Andújar; open days at museum venues; the photography exhibition 'Génesis', by María de los Ángeles Pérez; and olive oil tourism activities at the Hotel 'Oleum', the restaurant 'Refugio' and the 'Sierra Luna' rural accommodation. There were also musical and dance performances by the Pilar Algaba Dance Academy, Carmen Álvarez's flamenco group, Mario Moraga, Antonio Mena and the group Almoradú; a live cooking demonstration on 'the tapa on the oil-soaked "regañá" cracker'; and children's workshops centred on the olive tree and olive oil. The festival then moved to Sabadell from 15 to 17 November: Plaza Argub hosted the oil fair, featuring 35 olive oil companies and more than 3,000 visitors. It included tastings of Degusta Jaén products, flamenco shows, and performances by the folk group "Hijos de Bedmar en Cataluña" and the pilgrimage choir "Añoranza de mi Tierra". The Jaén First Oil Festival, a travelling event, was created in 2014. Previous host cities include Vitoria, Alcalá de Henares, Pamplona, Valencia, Vigo, Bilbao and Gijón.