Its goal is to share with locals and tourists the value of this cultural heritage which privileges healthy eating and tableside chatter. It’s open every day of the fair.

How do we best get to know the Mediterranean Diet, the products associated with it and the festivities to commemorate it? It may be through Algarve Region Tourism (RTA)’s new brochure, in the final stages of editing, which will be given out for free at the Mediterranean Diet Fair to those who pass by the institution’s stand.

Over 30 pages are dedicated to this Immaterial Cultural Heritage of Humanity, classified as such by UNESCO in 2013, and they highlight some of the products that comprise the healthiest and most sustainable diet on the planet. Olive oil as a main cooking fat, fruit like oranges, figs and almonds, and white fish are some of the food that makes up the Mediterranean food wheel and should always be at the dinner table.

The publication’s aim is to share the principles of the Mediterranean Diet, educating on the benefits of this diet and the lifestyle to which it’s associated (the basis of the longevity of Italians and Greeks). Edited under the project Algarve and the Mediterranean Diet, in partnership with the RTA and CCDR Algarve among many other regional entities are covered by the CRESC Algarve 2020, the brochure will travel to the Mediterranean Diet Fair and will be briefly available for online download of www.visitalgarve.pt.

But the RTA will also bring other promotional material to distribute with their stand over the fair’s four days, where they intend to share Algarvian gastronomy, one of the region’s liveliest cultural components.

“We’re partners of the Mediterranean Diet Fair from the first edition, and we are hard-set defendants of this heritage which impacts the Algarve’s promotion very well. According to the World Food Travel Association, gastronomy is one of the most valued products in a country: 80% of travellers search out typical food for where they’re staying. Having this gastronomic strength, and with Tavira being a community representative of the Mediterranean Diet, we’ll have to wait and see how it goes,” André Gomes, president of RTA, said.

The Mediterranean Diet Fair goes on from September 9th to 10th with a programme including challenges and snacks, craftsmanship exhibitions and traditional products, concerts, dances, botanic samples, seminars, and public activities for young people.