Warming up for the XLIII Festa do Pemento de A Arnoia
Save the date: this coming 5th, 6th and 7th of August we celebrate the XLIII edition of the most iconic festival in A Arnoia!
Many years have passed since that first Festa do Pemento de A Arnoia back in 1980, and ever since then the turnout at this gastronomic festival keeps growing.
The origin of this festival was to showcase the pepper as a flagship product for the municipality’s economy. The founding of the Cooperative in 1969 already helped to give value to the work of the small farmers and to this product that is so special to a large part of the locals.
The first editions were held in the old fairground but, over the years, this site became too small and the festival moved to its current location.
Something that made this festival very special is the coincidence with the patron saint celebrations and the return of neighbours who live outside the region during the year, which turns it into a real reunion for the people of A Arnoia and a delight for people arriving from all over Galicia.
These are three days of fun, open-air dancing, and with one clear star of the show: the Pemento de A Arnoia.
More than four thousand kilos of this pepper are served in the traditional way (fried), stuffed, in an omelette, or with recipes that get more original every year.
As could not be otherwise, the wine of O Ribeiro also accompanies this gastronomic festival, another of the region’s great products.
The celebration takes place in the Carballeira de A Queixeira, over days brought to life at all times by the music of the charangas. The place is fitted out with tables, bars, product exhibition stands and all kinds of services, from rides for the children to a large car park.
And every year it keeps growing! Participation of personalities from various fields, music, and activities aimed at all audiences, a poster contest… every year trying to outdo the previous one with an organisation into which the locals themselves pour so much effort.
There are still a few months to go until the XLIII Festa do Pemento but, after two less busy editions due to the pandemic, it promises to draw as big a crowd as it had been doing in recent years.
You might be interested in: The “Festa do Pemento” as the subject of university study in Catalonia – Pementos de A Arnoia
Visit the website of the Concello de A Arnoia