More than 36,000 people take part in Benvinguts a Pagès

On the weekend of 30 September and 1 October, all of Catalonia went farming, thanks to the great celebration of Catalan agriculture: Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa. More than 36,000 people took the free visits organised at more than 100 agri-food farms across Catalonia to discover where the products they eat every day come from, learn about farmers' work and see at first hand the importance of our country's primary sector. 

Furthermore, all these participants were able to round off their experience with product tastings offered by the farms themselves and the tourism offer of 115 rural accommodation providers, 220 restaurants and 65 complementary activities. They were also able to learn about the work of 5 food processors and small artisans, businesses without their own farm but which help raise the profile of Catalan agri-food companies as a whole by buying the raw materials for their products from local farms. 

Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa is the great showcase for agri-food products and so not only boosts rural tourism and the value of the rural world but also promotes the marketing of participating farms' local produce and direct sales without middlemen. In fact, 89% of visitors buy products after seeing how they are made, with an average spend of €35 to €40.

Record figures

This 8th edition closes with record figures: more than 36,000 visitors. "Agri-food is the country's leading economic sector, vital and strategic, and Benvinguts a Pagès has established itself as a pioneering initiative for bringing farming closer to the public", says Ramon Sentmartí, director of PRODECA. 

Since 2016, when Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa began, it has welcomed more than 166,000 visitors — the cumulative total to date. "Over the years, Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa has become an essential project for boosting tourism in Catalonia's rural areas and promotes a kind of tourism that is sustainable, environmentally respectful, socially fair, territorially balanced and innovative", notes Patrick Torrent, executive director of the Catalan Tourist Board.

Visitors to Benvinguts a Pagès La Festa were able to enjoy visits and experiences such as discovering the farm shop at Horta Ecològica Pla de Munt (Can Pla de Munt, Maresme), buying vegetables, nuts and seeds, eggs, sprouts and much more; seeing the centuries-old chestnut trees of the Castanya de Viladrau project (Viladrau, Osona), where you can also discover the sausages, flours, jams and many other products made with chestnuts; tasting the wines and cavas of Covides Vinyes-Cellers (Alt Penedès, Vilafranca del Penedès), delights that typify Mediterranean cuisine; strolling around the Granja del Montseny (Fogars de Montclús, Vallès Oriental), which makes high-quality dairy products from its own cows' milk; eating at a traditional Catalan restaurant such as Can Candelich (Samalús, Vallès Oriental); or sleeping at L'Era d'en Bella (Sant Llorenç de Morunys, Solsonès), a rural house surrounded by an orchard of organically grown mountain apples.   

Benvinguts a Pagès continues through the year

The project continues all year with a stable offer of more than 120 paid visits to Catalonia's agri-food farms. Through the Benvinguts a Pagès Tot l'Any project, farmers can generate activity 365 days a year with very complete paid visits that guarantee a personalised experience which, beyond explaining where our food comes from, includes product tastings. 

As part of this initiative, Benvinguts a Pagès also offers 16 day or weekend routes combining farming, food and heritage, made available to the public to make visiting easier.

The website www.benvingutsapages.cat has all the information, where visits can be browsed by area or by product.