Singer Miki Núñez sponsors the virtual edition of ‘Benvinguts a Pagès’ this weekend 

Benvinguts a Pagès moves to social media this weekend, 3 and 4 October. The fifth edition of the Catalan farming festival has reinvented itself this year and offers the public a different, 100% virtual experience that can be followed comfortably online. The event has adapted to the current Covid-19 context and is sponsored by the popular singer Miki Núñez, who on Saturday morning (11 am) will take part in an Instagram conversation with the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Catalonia, Teresa Jordà. The artist will talk about food and the importance of the farming and fishing sector, which has rallied to keep the spirit of Benvinguts a Pagès alive. The conversation can be followed on the singer's Instagram account @mikinunez. 

The event aims to overcome the current context and will champion, through social media, the role of farming, caring for the land, promoting local and seasonal products and fostering a direct relationship between producers and consumers. It will do so with the participation of 24 farmers and a dozen restaurants working with local products and rural accommodations. Throughout the weekend all these players will take centre stage on the Benvinguts a Pagès social media through videos, short clips, virtual visits, advice on products and food, and live Instagram interviews. 

The public will be able to discover the secrets of the centuries-old olive trees of Terra Alta, understand day-to-day life on an Osona farm, learn how Empordà cider is made or delve into hazelnut growing in Camp de Tarragona, among others. The Instagram interviews will be conducted by journalists Carme Gasull, Xavier Pérez Esquerdo and Claudia Solé and by chef Miquel Antoja. 

The website, the meeting point

All the information about this edition is gathered on the benvingutsapages.cat website, the virtual event's meeting point. All the scheduled activities can be viewed on the Benvinguts a Pagès Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube profiles and followed via the hashtag #eBaP.

Buying with no middlemen

Another of the weekend's draws will be the chance to fill the larder and buy directly from the producers. Benvinguts a Pagès encourages a direct relationship between the public and farmers and keeps filling the larder as one of the event's attractions. All the farmers taking part in this virtual edition hold the local sales accreditation issued by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food of the Government of Catalonia.

Digitalising the sector

The country's farms, livestock holdings and fishing businesses continue to work at opening a major sales window online that offers them great possibilities. The Benvinguts a Pagès project helps them advance in the digitalisation of the primary sector and make the most of the internet's possibilities to open new sales and outreach channels bringing them closer to the general public. 

Routes ready to go

The Costa Brava, Paisatges Barcelona, Costa Barcelona, Costa Daurada, Terres de l’Ebre, Terres de Lleida and Pyrenees routes offer year-round itineraries combining gastronomy, territory, landscape, history and heritage, beyond the Benvinguts a Pagès weekend. Although this year's edition is virtual, the itineraries remain available to the public. Details of the routes can be consulted on the benvingutsapages.cat website.

Benvinguts a Pagès is an initiative of the Government of Catalonia, in a joint action by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food, through Prodeca, and the Department of Business and Knowledge, through the Catalan Tourist Board. The project is supported by the Alícia Foundation, the County Councils, tourism consortiums and offices and other bodies and associations working for the revaluation and promotion of the sector.