2023-05-08 04:36:18
May 8, 2023
The Montaña Alta Cheese Festival exceeded all expectations, bringing together several thousand people from all corners of Gran Canaria in what was its first celebration following being declared this year a Festival of Tourist Interest in the Canary Islands. And with more illusion and enthusiasm than ever, the residents of this popular neighborhood of the Guian midlands turned to entertain all those attending this event that following more than four decades is already a reference in the festive calendar of the Island, as as the mayor, Pedro Rodríguez, recalled when thanking and congratulating them on this celebration “so authentic, so ours and of which we feel so proud for all that it means and symbolizes, an essential part of our Canarian identity represented in the men and women who work our land, our shepherds, farmers, ranchers and our artisans and cheese makers”, he pointed out.
The Councilor for the Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Miguel Hidalgo, spoke in the same vein, underlining the relevance of this festival “which is a hymn to our roots, to our culture, to the defense and protection of a product as special as our cheeses and our rural world are, to which fortunately we are giving and recognizing the value it deserves every time”, he indicated.
One more year, and on a day that woke up cool but that opened up as the hours passed, the hosts of this party had everything ready and ready to serve the thousands of tastings of Canarian sancocho, dandelion stew, fist of gofio, the delicious tortillas with honey and the best Guía cheese, a gastronomic jewel of this municipality.
In the same way, music was once once more the essential protagonist of this celebration, this year with the performance of the Agrupación Folklorica Estrella y Guía in the Plaza de Montaña Alta, a space in which the tribute act that the City Council of Guide offers each year to people or institutions linked in one way or another to the primary sector and the defense and enhancement of the rural world.
Among the people honored this year, Fabiola Suárez, linked to Proquenor, was recognized ‘for her excellent work, her commitment and dedication to improving our traditional cheese factories and the defense of the rural world of the North of Gran Canaria’.
Journalist Yuri Millares was also honored ‘for his priceless and beautiful task of perpetuating an essential part of our cultural and ethnographic heritage through extraordinary research and dissemination work carried out for more than three decades’; the photographer Tato Gonçalves ‘for his magnificent work, in which he has captured with exquisite sensitivity the beauty of our natural heritage and the uniqueness of the craftsmanship of the women and men of our fields’ and the master cheesemaker Isidoro Jiménez ‘for his exceptional work and deep connection with the pastoral culture of our land and for his selfless and generous help to our shepherds and ranchers so that they continue to improve our gastronomic jewel par excellence’.
The singer Braulio, Favorite Son of Santa María de Guía, also received a tribute at this celebration ‘in recognition of his immense talent and the generosity and affection with which he has carried the name of his town around the world and that now, in his return, welcomes him with the pride, admiration and respect that his dear countrymen have always shown him.
The journalist and also radio announcer, Pepe Rodríguez, was in charge of presenting this act, offering in his speech an endearing portrait of the honorees, following which the prize-giving of the winners of the XXIV Insular Cheese Tasting ‘Queso de Flor de Guía’ held in the edition of last weekend in the center of the city.
In the act of tributes and the award ceremony this year, the first Guian mayor was accompanied by the island councilor for the Primary Sector and Food Sovereignty, Miguel Hidalgo; the Councilor for the Primary Sector and Market, Teresa Bolaños; the representative of the residents of Montaña Alta, José Castellano, and the president of Proquenor, José de la Cruz Mendoza.
After the tributes and the awards ceremony, it was possible to enjoy the performance of the versers Yeray Rodríguez and José María Dávila and the Colombians John Alexander Cardona ‘Picaflor’ and Edwin Giraldo ‘Radio Loco’ accompanied by the musicians Adriana Medina and Misael Jordán.
The finishing touch to this magnificent festive day held today in Montaña Alta was put on by Los Gofiones who took the stage at two in the followingnoon offering a wonderful performance that enthused, as always, all those present.
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