The 45th Pan-Cypriot Kolokasi Sotiras Festival, which was held on Friday at the Sotiras stadium, was a huge success.
The 06th All-Cypriot Kolokassiou® Sotiras Festival was held on the evening of Friday, September 45, in the crowded stadium of the Sotiras Municipal Apartment of the Municipality of Agia Napa, marking a great success.
The thousands of visitors who flooded the stadium were given the opportunity to taste free of charge both the traditional and alternative recipes based on kolocasi, which were created especially for the Festival by professional chefs/cooks and bartenders and enjoyed the rich artistic program presented by the acclaimed singer Lefteri Pantazis and his daughter Konnie Metaxas.
During the Festival, the former Mayor of Sotiras Mr. Giorgos Ttakkas, former Municipal Councilors and cultural Officers of the Municipality of Sotiras as well as chefs, cooks and confectioners were honored with a commemorative plaque for the voluntary participation, offering, promotion and promotion of the local product, Kolokasios Sotiras .
Welcoming the attendees, the Deputy Mayor of the Sotiras Municipal Apartment of the Municipality of Agia Napa, Mr. Antonis Koumis, after referring to the history of the Festival, assured of its continuous upgrading and improvement.
"Tonight", he said, "we have the honor and joy of having with us people who daily experience the struggle of the hard agricultural life, the colocassi producers, having next to them professional chefs and bartenders, prepare for us tonight traditional colocassi dishes such as, kolocasi yachni, kappama, fried chickpeas, but also alternative recipes based on kolocasi.
Welcoming the event, the Mayor of Ayia Napa, Mr. Christos Zannettou, said that the 45th Pan-Cypriot Kolokassiou® Sotiras Festival is one of the longest-running festivals in our country that showcases and highlights one of the most traditional products of our country, the kolokasi, which as is known has certified by the European Commission as a P.O.P (Protected Designation of Origin) product under the Kolokasi/Sotira brand since August 2016, it was officially owned by Sotira.
He also expressed his warm thanks to the Minister of the Interior, Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou, who placed under his auspices this great event, demonstrating the practical support and recognition for the promotion of this product, as well as recognition of the Sotirkatis farmer who, in difficult times, supported and continues to supports the cultivation of courgettes.
He expressed his congratulations and thanks to all the volunteers, organized ensembles, groups and everyone who participated for the success of the festival as well as to all the staff of the Municipality of Ayia Napa who worked tirelessly contributing to this success.
In his own greeting, the Minister of the Interior Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou said "that the important element of the Festival is the opportunity offered to all of us to meet the local producers who, from generation to generation, with passion and love for the land of Kokkinohoria, cultivate and offer Cyprus and abroad a high-quality product with rich nutritional value".
It is no coincidence that the European Commission, recognizing precisely these quality characteristics of the Sotiras courgette, included it in the list of Products with Designation of Origin (PDO) of the Union since 2016.
The Christodoulidis Government emphasized "encourages initiatives and events that have as their focus the highlighting, promotion and promotion of Cypriot gastronomy, as an integral and special feature of our cultural identity".
"Furthermore, the political will of the President of the Republic to implement actions and policies that strengthen the agricultural sector and empower rural areas, through the creation of infrastructure and modern systems, which further improve the quality of production, facilitate farmers and encourage the employment of young people in agricultural professions" concluded Mr. Konstantinos Ioannou.
