Feria de la Tapa: Valencia' s Tapas Festival

A festive feast for all tastes. It was our last day in Valencia, so what better thing to do than visit Valencia’s Tapas Festival?

As we were staying in the Cabanyal area of the town, it only took us a few minutes to walk to the Marina Real Juan Carlos I, where the festival took place. 34,000 visitors and tapas enthusiasts were expected to visit, and the whole event was also a huge competition with participants competing for the top prize – el Rey de la Tapa (Tapas King).

Before entering, we were supposed to buy tokens, each worth 1.20 euros. The idea was that all tapas and beer cost 1 token each. Twenty-five tapas bars and restaurants from Valencia, Castellón, Alicante, and Albacete took part in the event, each offering three tapas. As the event was sponsored by Mahou beer, it was the only beer available. Although Mahou negra (dark) wasn’t that bad after all, to be honest. The style of the tapas varied from the basic ones to enormously creative haute cuisine ones.

There were also on-stage performances by honored tapas chiefs, such as a master class on how to clean the orange skin using the sword, courses for serving beers, Spanish ham cutting, and beer tasting.

It was also a great place for people spotting. We saw all the important people of the city arriving to the event. There was a camera crew greeting everyone by the entrance. But I was most impressed by the security dog, which was very young and active – it played with a real brick, like it was just a chew toy!

So, if you are in Valencia next September, make sure you visit this festival!

written by neja on 2011-12-05 #places #people #food #lifestyle #beer #sea #festival #port #fun #competition #spain #show #tradition #tapas #location #marina #valencia #visitors #local #urban-adventures #get-together