Alaçatı’s festival to offer chance to taste herb foods

İZMİR, Alaçatı

The purpose of the festival is to expose and introduce the natural and cultural richness of Alaçatı. Restaurants will have stands at which to exhibit their food specialties. Company photo

The Aegean town of Alaçatı is waiting for visitors to explore its beauty, with the help of a unique festival. The small town with fairytale-like stories will celebrate the 3rd annual Alaçatı Herbs Festival on Saturday and Sunday.

The festival is a unique one for its purpose, facilities and its volunteer helpers. The two-day event has got official status with a traditional identity, thanks to people of Alaçatı.

The purpose of the festival is to expose and introduce the cultural richness and the nature of Alaçatı. There are also going to be fun competitions, such as “Who can pick the most varied herbs?” or “Who can cook the most delicious meal with herbs?”

Starting with a parade
The first day of the festival will start with a parade in the geranium-lined streets of Alaçatı, and continue with a festival reception and a live concert, to which guests are able to attend for free.

The second day will be even more fun, with exciting competitions. The competitions for who can pick the most varied herbs and for who can cook the most delicious herbal meals will be evaluated by the grand jury. The winners and the runner ups of the two contests will be rewarded with gold prizes.

Foods at special prices
While the contests go on, the famous restaurants of Alaçatı will maintain exhibition stands for their food specialties, offering very low prices so that everybody has the chance to enjoy the delicious meals. Local producers will attempt to fully satisfy guests with their food, beverage, assorted herbs and herbal products.

One surprise of the festival is set to be the special recipe book containing only herbal food recipes. Those recipes that take part in the competition will be included in the book and it will be sold at the next festival. The book containing last year’s festival recipes will be distributed to guests at this year’s event.

In the first festival, some 101 varieties of herbs were picked, while in second one, Necla Erol won the competition by picking 137 varieties of herbs. In the herbal meal contest, Güler Akgün won the award with her “charm pie with assorted herbs” recipe.

Alaçatı is about 45 minutes from İzmir Airport and a one hour drive from world famous ancient site Ephesus.

For further information about the festival, visit www.alacatiotfestivali.com