In 2014, the second (and final) edition of a competition that combined fruit, gastronomy and culture was held, delighting thousands of spectators in the city of Fraga.
Today is August 24th, Saint Bartholomew's Day, or San Portumeo as it's known locally. It's an important date for the fruit and vegetable sector of the Lower Cinca region. Since the 18th century , this festival coincided with one of the two free fairs granted to the city by King Philip V. The celebration marked the end of the harvest season in those years and continued until 1975, the year of the last regional agricultural fair.
And this date, precisely, was one of the guiding threads of the Sweet Fruit Festival
They say you learn more from defeats than from victories. Although sometimes it's hard to even know what a victory is. This article is going to be a bit long, a bit of a monotonous read, but the ending will surely surprise you.
To give you a quick overview, the Fraga Sweet Fruit Festival was born in 2013. This multi-day event, held in free public spaces throughout the city, takes place around the feast day of Saint Bartholomew. The festival features theater, music, workshops, gastronomy, and more, all centered around the star product of our region: FRUIT . The agricultural sector, associations, businesses, artisans, restaurateurs, and a wide variety of artists transform the city of Fraga into a multi-day celebration, promoting and celebrating one of the most iconic elements of our region.
The second (and final) edition was held in 2014. The festival grew somewhat, both in artistic quality and in the number of activities. This was clearly thanks to the city council at the time, which decided to invest more in the project and allocated a larger budget to the event. Personally, I think it's only fair to acknowledge all those who believed in and supported the Fraga Sweet Fruit Festival and worked to promote it ; credit where credit is due.
All performances, shows, and workshops were free , except for the Revolver concert at the second edition, whose ticket sales were donated to the Spanish Association Against Cancer . Between the concert and other activities, nearly €5.000 was raised for this organization through the 'Solidarity Fruit' initiative.
Groups such as Revolver, Los Zigarros, Aurora Beltrán, La MODA, Grises, Shotta, Artistas del Gremio, and Nora Norman performed, along with artists like Mag Lari, Primital Brothers, Iván Santacruz, and Circo la Raspa. There were also workshops, exhibitions, and various other activities, all featuring fruit as the central theme.
More than 30 hospitality establishments participated, 25% of the artists were local, local artisans were featured, and local businesses were involved in the event. The second (and final) edition drew over 6.500 attendees . These are just some of the details of the event, which, fortunately for those of us with short memories, can be found in the digital archives, either on the Festival de la Fruta Dulce Facebook page or the Vimeo channel created by Digital Fraga TV for the occasion, both of which are still active.
Anyone looking for entertainment will find the festival extensively covered in the press . Antena 3, TVE, Aragón TV, SER, Cope, El Periódico, Heraldo, HOLA, Segre, AltoAragón, Diez Minutos, Supertele, SEMANA, Yo Donna, Grazia, Semana, 20 minutos, La Vanguardia, La Mañana… Fraga and his fruit were featured in most national, regional, and provincial media outlets. There were even some appearances in international media.
All of this is thanks to the hard work and dedication put into promoting the event, the fruit, and the city of Fraga. If anyone is curious, simply go to Google News and type "Festival Fruta Dulce Fraga " to see some reviews.
It's wonderful to see that there are still people who, ten years later, remember him with affection and longing.
As background and to place ourselves ten years back, I think that's enough.
There's much more information on the festival's Facebook page or Vimeo channel . I encourage you to check it out, watch it, and remember what an event it could have been.
Speaking of festivals and local products, we see how other nearby areas have, it seems, successfully leveraged their products to promote them through broader initiatives such as festivals or tourism projects. The Somontano Wine Festival is a good example. Towns in the neighboring province of Lleida have capitalized on agriculture by combining it with tourism, such as Aitona with its Fruiturisme festival , which attracts thousands of visitors each year, or the more recent Fruit Music Festival in Serós.
After this exercise in nostalgia comes the double twist with a pirouette and a somersault . As I wrote at the beginning, they say you learn more from defeats than from victories . I don't know if the disappearance of the Sweet Fruit Festival was a victory for anyone , perhaps it was, who knows. What is clear is that the city lost an event. Although, unfortunately, in Fraga we are very used to losing things. There are fewer and fewer bars and pubs, fewer restaurants, the nightclub only opens once a month, the months it's open, and the cinema closed, although it seems it will soon be reopened. It's no one's fault, or everyone's, nor is it important; there's no need to point fingers or look for someone to blame. The situation is what it is, although it doesn't hurt to remember it.
La Fruta Dulce was a musical, cultural, gastronomic, agricultural and rural festival that, perhaps, today could have become a true benchmark and a magnificent element for promoting our fruit.
During this summer season, with festivals taking place across the country, many residents of the Bajo/Baix Cinca region travel to other cities, drawn by the musical and cultural events. It's not uncommon to hear people say things like, " They should have a festival in Fraga, " or " It's a shame we don't have anything like that in Fraga ." You've probably heard someone say it, or maybe you've even said or thought it yourself at some point.
>>Heads up! Let's not forget the Monegros Desert Festival . It's a bit out of the way, yes, but it's in Fraga and a major international event, something that shouldn't be forgotten either.<<
At the Sweet Fruit Festival , were things done wrong? Surely they were, and we learn from everything, especially from defeats, they say. Were things done right? Absolutely, and the archives are there to prove it. And to avoid any confusion and make everything perfectly clear (some apprehensive souls will already be reading this), this is NOT an article to criticize those who decided to "eliminate" the Sweet Fruit Festival. Absolutely NOT . Rather, it's a simple exercise in reflection. If we all learn something, even a little, we might just gain something positive.
Perhaps in 2023 we would have celebrated the 10th anniversary and this week we would already be enjoying the 11th edition full of music, shows and gastronomy
Perhaps the festival would have grown, perhaps we would have improved, perhaps it would have been a great platform for local talent: artists, artisans, hoteliers, farmers, perhaps… Perhaps it would be good not to always stay with the “perhaps”.
Can Fraga and the Bajo/Baix Cinca region have a festival again? Perhaps. But more important than creating and building is knowing how to maintain and preserve it . And that, dear readers, seems to be a challenge in our land.
If you've made it this far and read everything, perhaps it's out of curiosity, interest, or because you had some connection to the Sweet Fruit Festival. If you read the article to see if I was criticizing someone , as I've already said, I'm sorry, that's not what it's about ; in fact, it's quite the opposite. It's about asking: have we learned anything? Do we want to lose more things, or is it better to build and, above all, preserve? If it's the latter, and I hope it is, there's only one way forward: work and unity.
Time will tell.
