The 14th Pan-Cypriot Watermelon Cultural Festival in Frenaros was held with great success on July 2023, 14. Both locals and visitors from abroad flooded the community stage of the village from very early on, having the opportunity to enjoy watermelon sweets, watermelon ice cream, watermelon burgers, delicious watermelon desserts, as well as cold watermelon soup and watermelon salad, served to them by the volunteers of the Festival. In addition, the Cyprus Bartenders Association created and offered to the festival visitors the unique Watermelon Fizz cocktail, with and without alcohol.
The festival managed to gather more than 7,000 visitors from all the provinces of Cyprus, but also many tourists who enjoy their holidays in Cyprus and were informed about it. In a tastefully decorated environment, which can only be called the "watermelon kingdom", each visitor was offered plenty of watermelon, accompanied by a wonderful halloumi.
Representatives of the Provincial Department of Agriculture were also there, eager to introduce visitors to the various varieties of watermelons grown in our homeland. The guests had the opportunity to try rich dishes, such as fresh doughnuts, crepes, donuts, as well as delicious kleftiko and souvla.
The children enjoyed the stilt games, inflatables, facepainting, the robotics demonstration, as well as the iconic appearance of the 'Transformer' mascot.
The festival was decorated with dances with the presence of the Cultural Group of the Frenaros Community Council. The event was welcomed by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Mr. Kostas Koumis, and the President of the Frenaros Community Council, Mr. Michalis Hatzigiorkas.
The festival culminated with the prize for the largest watermelon. The prize was won by Giorgos Siopachas, with a watermelon weighing 27.5 kg. The evening ended with songs and music by Panos Kalidis, Angeliki Iliadis and Despina Andreou.
The celebrations of the 14th Pan-Cypriot Watermelon Cultural Festival started on June 7, 2023, where in collaboration with the Cyprus Chefs Association, the Frenaros Community Council organized with great success the 2nd specialized seminar on "Watermelon Cuisine". The seminar was addressed to professional chefs and the participants had the opportunity to watch the creation and execution of original recipes, based on watermelon, by the Members of the Association of Chefs of Cyprus Mr. Panagiotis Charalambous and Antonis Charalambous and the assistance of Ms. Argiros Pavlou and Mr. Giorgos Tziortzis.
In addition, the volunteers of the festival, under the guidance of Ms. Margaritas Xenarou prepared more than 50 kilos of sweet watermelon for the festival.
In addition to the "Transformer" mascot for our little friends, the specially designed area of the Cyprus Bartenders Union and MicrobreweryOcto stood out, where bar lovers had the opportunity to enjoy excellent watermelon-based cocktails as well as the original and refreshing watermelon beer.
The end of the festival is followed by an evaluation and recording of all points that may need improvement, so that the 15th Pan-Cypriot Cultural Festival will be even more successful.
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