An Olive Picking Championship in Croatia
The event aims to gather people from olive-producing regions from around the world to encourage friendship and cooperation.
The Croatian island of Brač is set to host the 1st World Championship in Olive Picking in October.
An initiative of Postira’s Tourist Board, in cooperation with the Postira Agricultural Cooperative and Aldura Sport – a local outdoor adventure company, the competition will take place from October 19 to 22, 2017.
The event is being promoted less as a competition and more as an initiative to gather people from olive-producing regions from around the world to encourage friendship and cooperation. Participants will be provided a stand where they can present their own olive products, and educational trips around the island will be organized.
Ivana Jelinčić, director of Postira’s Tourist Board, told Olive Oil Times that the objective of the event is “to promote Postira as an olive destination where a completely natural, healthy and high-quality olive oil is produced in accordance with centuries-old traditions and high-quality standards.”
The participating teams from each country will be made up of four members: two men and two women and the olives will be picked using hand picking techniques only, which can include the use of hand rakes. The winning team that picks the most kilograms of fruit will be awarded medals and prizes provided by local manufacturers.
The setting will be the picturesque 16th-century port village of Postira located on the northern coast of the island. The island of Brač has a centuries-long history of olive cultivation and several local producers have won international awards for the high quality of their extra virgin olive oil.
Besides the competition, a series of educational workshops, lectures, tastings and entertainment are being organized, including visits to the eco-ethno village of Dol and other excursions on the island of Brač.
“So far we have teams ready to participate from Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Montenergo and the Netherlands,” Jelinčić added. “But we would like to have participants from other Mediterranean countries like Spain, Portugal, Greece, and France, but of course people from all countries are welcome.”
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