Strawberry Festival 2011

Now for the fourth time, the "Strawberry Festival" is being organised in the square by the Spice shopping centre. This time the festival runs for two days - Saturday 2 July and Sunday 3 July. On the first day, despite the sweltering heat, we went to look over - and perhaps purchase - a strawberry variety or two. A certain disappointment came from the fact that there was almost everything except strawberries - dried goods, cheeses, breads, pastries, cherries, raspberries, and other delights.

Only three vendors offered strawberries, among them "Pūre" and two other farms. It was only 14:00, but it looked as though the few strawberry vendors' berry crates were already running out, while the queues showed no sign of shortening. Had it not been for the decorative artificial strawberries arranged all around, and the strawberry tasting tent where sampling was sponsored by the EU and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia, it would scarcely have been possible to call it a Strawberry Festival at all.

In the end, with a badge and a brochure about how healthy a berry like the strawberry is in one's diet - but without actual strawberries - we went on our way. Looking at it from the outside, this time the event was entirely inconsistent with its announced theme and failed to deliver.

http://www.augliveselibai.lv/zemenu-festivala-programma

Reviews and a small photo glimpse of the event: