Feira da Castanha
Europeans have a fondness for chestnuts, and nowhere is that more evident than at the Feira da Castanha (Chestnut Fair) that takes place on the second weekend of November in Marvão, Alentejo, Portugal.
This year’s dates are November 8 and 9, 2014.
The hills of the Alentejo come alive each November with the chestnut harvest. Chestnuts have been cultivated throughout Portugal for centuries, and until the potato arrived from the New World, they were a staple of the Portuguese diet. Chestnuts are still grown throughout the country, but in the fertile lands of this charming province they still celebrate the ancient rite of the chestnut harvest. The best souvenir? A bundle of fresh roasted chestnuts, warm with a dash of salt (pictured).
This event offers tasting of wines and liquors, sweets with chestnut, handicraft and regional products, photographic exhibitions, popular dances, street entertainment with theater and concerts.
(Photo courtesy of Feira da Castanha)
