The VI edition of World Paella Day (World Paella Day) returns to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. On September 20, the city’s central square will also host the IV edition of the World Paella Day Cup, which will bring together 12 gastronomy professionals from different parts of the world, who will compete to present “the best paella in the world”. .
The Councilor for Tourism, Paula Llobet, presented both calls this Wednesday, accompanied by the General Secretary of Tourism, Ester Labaig, and the Provincial Tourism Deputy, Pedro Antonio Cuesta. Under the motto “We have been rehearsing all year”, World Paella Day proposes this year a promotional campaign “under a sarcastic and theatrical prism”, as the councilor explained. The World Paella Day events return to the city center after passing through Mestalla and the Marina de València, respectively, due to the restrictions and limitations imposed by the covid pandemic.
The Councilor for Tourism, Paula Llobet, has highlighted that the 2023 edition of World Paella Day returns once again to the Town Hall Square “with the idea of ??giving visibility to our most international dish and promoting recognition of the city’s gastronomy” . “It is a special day, in which we Valencians are going to be very good hosts – explained the councilwoman – and we are going to open our paella to the world and accept, with all tolerance, that people coming from many and very different countries who who visit make their particular style of paella, with their contributions, their proposals and their own visions”.
Llobet has urged, “as hospitable Valencians that we are, to accept in a fun way these proposals that -he added- also allow us to teach about our traditional recipe and to value the products of Valencia”
The councilor explained that the Cup will be displayed so that it can be visited by all interested people in the Central Market, from September 11 to 19, and has pointed out the importance of promoting measures to promote the cultural and gastronomic values ??of Valencia. , as is the case of this VI edition of the World Paella Day and the IV World Paella Day Cup.
In this sense, Llobet has highlighted “the work promoted by the City Council to promote knowledge of paella in the entire international context, and has pointed out the collaboration with Turespaña to also carry out celebrations around paella in different places around the world. , such as Beijing, Bombay, Stockholm, Abu Dhabi and Rome, where activities aimed at both the general public and specialized audiences are planned.
For her part, the General Director of Tourism, Esther Labaig, stressed that paella “is more than an emblem for us”, and explained that “it is the best way to represent ourselves as a society and as a destination at a national and international level, because it transfers our most identifying traits”. In addition, she Labaig has stressed the importance of “disseminating this day and providing it with content” and for this reason she has referred to the “collaboration agreement with Turismo Valencia that, together with the Diputación, allows us to make it possible”.
Finally, the deputy for Tourism of the Valencia Provincial Council, Pedro Cuesta, highlighted “the great visibility and international public projection that the celebration of World Paella Day provides to paella, to Valencian gastronomy, to Valencia and to Spain in general in the rest of the world”, as well as the sum of efforts between the collaborating administrations that make it possible, for the benefit of Valencian gastronomy and of Valencia as a tourist destination.
The objective of this call, Paula Llobet concluded, is to give visibility to the most international Valencian dish “so that the world talks about paella, its origin, the Valencian product, its relevance and influence on gastronomy and, especially, its traditional recipe.
To promote the day, a promotional campaign has been proposed that is based on the difficulties that foreigners face in understanding everything that involves the culture of paella, and the fight to dissociate our dish from the so-called “rice with things.” For this reason, and to reinforce the philosophy of World Paella Day, which seeks to generate community and hospitality without entering into a debate about the ingredients, the institutions invite you to rehearse to successfully face the different situations that usually occur, both between residents and among visitors.
For this reason, the World Paella Day 2023 campaign is inspired by theater, and more specifically, by the drama that surrounds any “debate” around paella. Through a sly and humorous proposal, the elaborated videos and audios teach fundamental concepts in paella culture (ingredients, container, production process…).
The World Paella Day Cup 2023 will bring together 12 international chefs, who will compete to win the cup “for the best paella in the world”, the trophy made by the fallero artist José Luis Platero. The competition will start at 10:00 am and will have two phases: a semifinal, in which the contestants will compete in pairs, and a final, in which the six finalists will participate. The draw for couples will take place on September 19 at 11:00 in Mestalla.
The WPDCup2023 finalists are respected chefs from Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Morocco, India and Japan. Spain, once again, will maintain the role of host country. The days before the competition, all the finalists will participate in intensive training, led by four outstanding professionals and paellero experts: Chabe Soler and Noelia Pascual, -winners of the WPDCup in 2020 and 2021 respectively, Rafa Margós -chef of the restaurant Las Bairetas- and Santos Ruiz, -manager of the D.O. Rice from Valencia.
World Paella Day is a collective initiative, promoted by the Valencia City Council, through Visit València, together with the Tourist Board of the Diputación de València, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and Turespaña with the collaboration of the D.O. Arroz de València, the Valencia Hospitality Federation, Wikipaella and the Sueca Valencian Paella Contest.
