Over 12 thousand artichokes ready for the highlight event of the Cynara Festival. Thousands of people from all over Sicily are expected for an edition that celebrates the excellences of the territory and is already shaping up to be a record-breaker.
Cerda, April 24, 2024 – Good food, great wines, and exceptional guests will be the ingredients of the 42nd Artichoke Festival of Cerda, scheduled for Thursday, April 25th, the climax of the Cynara Festival, which this year is paying tribute to the flagship product of local agriculture like never before. The uncertain weather hasn’t discouraged the thousands of people who have flocked from all over Sicily these days to experience firsthand the authenticity of a vegetable, presented in various specialties along the main streets of the town in Palermo, and throughout the entire local cuisine, which, in addition to Cerda, involves cities and towns from Palermo to Cefalù, including Termini Imerese, Bagheria, and Campofelice di Roccella, all under the banner of the Cynara Festival, from April 20th to 28th, they too wanted to celebrate the spiny Violet Artichoke of Cerda.
Here, between the northern Himera and the Torto River, the timeless tradition begins at 9:30, with the sound of drums and the cheerfulness of the folk group I carrettieri città di Cerda, parading to Piazza La Mantia, enlivened then by the arrival of the Bersaglieri for a tribute to the National Liberation Day.
Mayor Salvatore Geraci will officially open the Festival with his welcome greeting to guests and food enthusiasts who have come to the town. Also on stage will be Salvo La Rosa and the event’s godmother, Giusina Battaglia, together to give voice and shed light on the great tradition in artichoke preparation, thanks also to the family recipes of the Ladies of Cerda. The opening of the tasty tastings will follow immediately after, with samples of pasta with frittata and other exquisite delicacies. Both adults and children can feast their eyes and palates on the genuineness of this extraordinary vegetable used in the 5000 portions of frittata made with broad beans and peas, 500 kilograms of pasta, 1500 sandwiches with sausage, and 1500 arancini seasoned with speck.
The Monreale DOC is the partner of the Cynara festival, which wanted to be present in the food and wine workshops and tastings reserved for the press and guests attending the event. The scents of Catarratto, Perricone, and Syrah from the seven companies enrolled in the specification of the renowned denomination in a blend of harmonies that break stereotypes, becoming opportunities for growth. In this sense, the same combination will be replicated on the tables of local restaurants, but also of Termini Imerese, Bagheria, and Campofelice di Roccella, in a restaurant circuit that intends to give further value to the entire event.
And speaking of the event. The conviviality of April 25th will continue in the afternoon, after 4:30 pm, with the comedy of I Quattro Gusti and Uccio De Santis, the energy of the Flag Throwers of Caccamo and the Historical Group of Cerda, and finally conclude with the screening of “The Ancient Myth of the Nymph Cynara Transformed into an Artichoke by the God Zeus,” a video mapping dedicated to the deity Cynara.
“Cerda dresses up in celebration – Mayor Salvatore Geraci says with satisfaction – and the numbers of these days once again demonstrate that the Artichoke Festival is to be considered one of the most beautiful in Southern Italy. The artichoke is the backbone of our economy, but also the seed of rebirth for a generous territory, which deserves to be valued economically, culturally, as well as in its image. The future is in the present, and we cannot fail to cultivate this awareness by opening up to new goals and synergies“.
From prince to king: a whopping 12 thousand spiny artichokes from Cerda cleaned and cooked as part of a record-breaking edition that gives renewed vitality to a Festival that, since 1982, embraces and exalts the skill of small and large producers, artisans of the gastronomic art, and the profound sense of hospitality of the Cerda community. Spotlights focused on the simplicity and hospitality that make Cerda a destination of taste to discover and experience heart and soul.