I wasn’t planning to go to the Féria. I’d seen the collection of rather soggy plastic structures around the sports ground this rainy Semana Santa (Holy Week). Local kids were expending their abundant energy in between cloudbursts and I had no wish to try out what looked like a mini-fairground. Why would I go to Féria? Ten days after knee surgery I am barely hobbling around the flat.
But Fred called me this morning. “You have to come to the Féria,” he said, his words tumbling over themselves in his boyish excitement. “There’s loads going on here, there are bees, and jewellery, and, and...local craft beers. And there’s chocolate!” Suddenly I felt a surge of wellness. As if on wings, I glided out of the flat, along the street and down the long ramp to the indoor sports hall.
Fred’s enthusiasm was justified. Orgiva’s 24th Festival of Alpujarran food, drink and handcrafts has been filling the huge, brightly-lit hall with excited stallholders and visitors – up to 20,000 people are expected to sample the goodies on offer this weekend. “Made in the Alpujarra” showcases many classic products and produce –plus a few surprises.
The Asociación Disfruta Sin Barreras (Enjoy life without barriers) is a familiar sight in Orgiva’s indoor eco-market.. The charity brings together mixed groups of volunteers with “differently-abled” members from all over the Alpujarra. The groups enjoy days out with a purpose, gathering local herbs and flowers to dry and sell on their flourishing medicinal herb stall at the eco-market. They plan outings from the remoter villages into Orgiva to visit the theatre and socialise over coffee and tapas. It’s a joyful project. Visit their eponymous Facebook page to find out more.
Florentina Cocina is a mum-and-son outfit based in beautiful Laroles, high up in the Sierra Nevada and famous for its chestnut trees and delicacies. Alejandro and his mamá produce a rainbow of sauces and salsas, all homemade, all free of animal products. Some are daringly labelled 'picante' and create a mild buzz on the palate rather than clobbering your taste-buds.
Knowing my love of loud buzzing stinging things, Fred deliberately walked me past the Alpujarra honey stall at Miel Sierra Nevada. A large glass panel on the counter was alive with bees on their annual weekend out to promote their fragrant product range. On the other side, a large and luscious honeycomb glistened. In between, glass jars of amber, carnelian and pale gold honeys wait to be spread on toast or blobbed into herb tea.
It wasn’t all about food. Cabinetmaker Pedro y Hijos is showing stylish and original furniture, ranging from vintage to futuristic. 80 percent of the pieces from this local workshop are makde from reclaimed local olive wood, the rest from sustainable (non-tropical) hardwoods. On the stand is a pair of doors from the now defunct Hotel Suizo in Lanjarón. Made from chestnut and adorned with local ‘primitive’ carvings and traditional metal ‘rejas’ (decorative bars), the doors were created for the hotel when it opened in 1903. A coffee table rests on a massive twisted olive trunk, grown right here in Orgiva.
Finally, chocolate! Both Chocolate Sierra Nevada and the Abuela Ili stalls were luring visitors with a riot of flavours in chocolate and turron, dipped fruits and gourmet ‘bonbons’. Flavours include Alpujarran amber beer, Olive Oil with Fleur du Sel, Gin and Tonic with pink peppercorn, white chocolate with apple, walnut and cinnamon, and white again, this time with pomegranate. Or mango. Or wait a minute, lime and pistachio. I spent a good 20 minutes in happy confusion, before buying the Abuela’s chilli chocolate for Fred, and for me, a slab of milk chocolate with kikos, (salted, toasted, crunchy maize snacks) as an Easter treat.
Tomorrow, Easter Sunday, is the last day of the Féria, and it will be open all day until 7.00 pm. It's in the large indoor sports hall at the sports ground, more or less opposite the Correo/Post Office, as you enter Orgiva from the Lanjarón side. Celebrate Easter here in true Alpujarran style - highly social, noisy, colourful and delicious. And remember, Féria is also an effective pain reliever for tortured knees. Not many people know that.
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