[Home]    [Guidelines]   [Taste Education]    [Examples]     [Appendix] Kesennuma Slow Food Festival: highlighting the region Kesennuma Convivium, Japan Akihiko Sugawara, otoko@coral.ocn.ne.jp A historic school building provides the perfect setting for a regional producer fair, attracting 12000 visitors to learn from their local Masters of Food. Our Convivium The port city of Kesennuma, situated on the north-eastern coast of Japan in the Miyagi region, is home to 67,000 people and one of Japan’s most active convivia. Founded in 2003, Slow Food Kesennuma is active in international projects as well as undertaking various locally based activities. Around twenty convivium members participated in Slow Fish 2007, hosting one of the events most outstanding stands, and in September 2006 the convivium hosted a section of the University of Gastronomic Sciences’ stage in Japan. Since 2004, Kesennuma has also been a Città Slow. Kesennuma Slow Food Festival The inaugural Kesennuma Slow Food Festival was organized by the local convivium to take place concurrently with the annual convivium leaders meeting over February 24 – 25, 2007. The festival was held in the Yasè district, attracting 12,000 visitors over the two days to this area of just 600 inhabitants. The event was housed in a historic, wooden school building, with producer stands set up throughout the ex-classrooms. Exhibitors were all local food producers and displayed products representing Kesennuma’s traditional gastronomy such as Tataki of pelamyd tuna, dried dogfish fins (symbol of Kesennuma), curried rice with Saury pike, Kesennuma Ramen (soup) and sea salt. The festival also presented a series of conferences on topics ranging from Saké production to Kesennuma’s fishing resources. A quiz held one evening asked participants all about the region's local fish species. Around 150 volunteers assisted with the event, including Kesennuma convivium members, nominated council representatives, staff form Kesennuma’s Chamber of Commerce and others. An entrance fee of 1000 yen (around 6 Euro) was charged to help cover costs and also permited visitors to tastings to the value 1200 yen. Eco-sustainable Visions Commonly, visitors to Japanese gastronomic fairs use disposable chopsticks, Waribashi, throwing them away after just one use. In a bid to reduce waste produced during the event and to encourage respectful use of natural resources, the festival organizers recommended participants bring along their My Hashi - their own personal chopsticks. Organizers also encouraged the use of non-disposable dishes to further reduce waste. These rules were applied in a ‘soft’ manner, or more precisely where it was possible, and in a way that wouldn’t stress the exhibitors. The approach worked well, increasing awareness of these issues amongst the participants whilst maintaining a relaxed atmosphere. Masters of Food As vendors of Kesennuma’s meat, fish and vegetable produce, many exhibitors simply continued their daily work during the festival, selling and talking about the products they know so well in a new location. But as the convivium leader Sugawara commented, by changing the context of their work, their presence assumed a new significance and the value of their activities was emphasized. These producers can be called the Masters of Food. An event for all Seasons Organizers would like to produce the festival on a regular basis but first need to establish the ideal interval between editions - allowing Slow Food to organize the festival in partnerships with Kesennuma’s citizens without over-committing them. At this stage, the convivium is considering holding Slow Food Kesennuma once every year and a half, with the next edition to be held in September 2008. This approach will also mean the event is presented during varied seasons, allowing a wider selection of fresh produce to be presented. << [Back]    [Home]    [List all examples]    [Next] >>