El Pallars Jussà is the region with the most sheep cattle in all of Catalonia: it has a total of 32,100 breeding ewes and 48 farms. With the aim of helping this group by publicizing their work, the qualities of lamb meat and all its derivatives, the Tremp City Council will celebrate Fira Pallars on May 6 and 7.
The central axis of this event will be the fair market where the girella and the Pyrenean sheep cheese will take a special role.
In order to revalue lamb meat, a comic format sheet has been prepared explaining the “super powers” of lamb: it helps prevent fires; it improves the soil’s ability to fix CO2, helps maintain the local economy and is a local element with high nutritional value.
The presentation of the fair took place next to the hermitage of San Salvador de Toralla (Cuenca de Arriba) where Gerard Cardona, cattle breeder and president of the Pallaresa Association of Ovine Cattle Breeders (APROVI), grazes his flock.
Cardona has highlighted the celebration of the ‘Feria Pallars. Terra de Corder’ which helps to strengthen the livestock sector in the region and to become a meeting point for lamb producers. For Cardona, the role of livestock is also relevant in improving the land’s ability to fix COâ‚‚, prevent fires, maintain the local economy and fix population.
The festival wants to vindicate the role that sheep farming has in Pallars, both from an economic, social and cultural point of view. The poster wants to convey the message in a fun and modern way and with a ‘super lamb’, a character that should help to spread the different roles that sheep, lambs and flocks have in the survival of rural life.
Since 2015, the Tremp City Council, through its “Al teu gust, alimentss del Pallars” program, has been developing a project for the preservation, revaluation and revitalization of sheep farming and others linked to lamb.
Josep Maria Puigarnau, Tremp City Councilor for Fairs, explains that “lamb is one of the star products of the region” and that it should be given visibility with different actions.
The fair will revolve around lamb, but it will also serve to introduce all the producers of Pallars and the products they make.
The central act of the celebration will take place on Sunday the 7th with a meal in which the main dish will be lamb meat where the participation of more than 800 people is expected.
