In collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Meteora and Mushroom Museum, it is planned the implementation of an annual 10 – day festival, highlighting the agro-food traditions of the region. It is noted that in Kalambaka, the Mushroom Festival is organized annually by the Museums, lasting 3 days, aiming to promote the nutritional and therapeutic value of mushrooms and their health benefits, but also to reveal new taste experiences offered by the multitude of edible wild mushrooms of our country.
As part of the event, mushroom knowledge seminars, mushroom collection and identification, truffle hunting, as well as concerts, cultural events and activities for children are organized. As a highlight of the celebration, 10-15 chefs offer thousands of portions of mushrooms to the visitors. The Mushroom Festival, which is a social offering of the Museums and has free entry, attracting thousands of participants from all over Greece, will be included in the official program of the Festival, constituting its climax.
Οther actions of the Festival concern the recording and highlighting of the different types of pies of the local cuisine (vegetable pie with wild herbs, pastos, greens and feta cheese, cassata with dough, feta cheese and leeks, etc.), in a way that the element is given symbolic meaning through the sharing it implies, and its role in the customary circumstances of the local society. Also, in recording and highlighting other agri-food traditions of the region, such as cheese-making, wine-making, Farsala halva, etc., and their connection with modern entrepreneurship.
In addition to the public actions that will be included in the Festival with the participation of the representatives of the intangible cultural heritage of the region, the documentation of these elements will also be sought with the collaboration of scientists, with the aim of producing corresponding printed and digital editions, which will make accessible their registration to the general public and to anyone interested.
