The producers welcomed the visitors at their own spot

On Sunday, October 19th, producers and manufactories welcomed more than 1,500 visitors free of charge all day long, without prior registration, who were able to gain insight into the daily work of the farms and the food production processes.

A different theme awaited the guests at each fair: there were those that focused on traditional farm life, cheese making, or distilling, horseradish, beekeeping, oven-baked sourdough bread, the world of herbs, and there were those that focused on the production of extruded products.

Guests could connect with the themes through experience programs, and all ages could find treasure-worthy experiences. Petting animals and feeding pets were popular among the children, and they could also make wax candles, dye textiles with medicinal herbs, and make snails. The children were also able to gain important knowledge, learning about the secret life of bees or the beneficial effects of spelt wheat. Of course, gastronomic experiences also played an important role, all kinds of earthly goods could be tasted and bought, and some even ate their Sunday lunch there.

The NAK staff kept the goal in mind throughout the process of compiling and promoting the program and providing professional support to the portals: to bring the values ​​of rural life, the power of communities, and the value-creating work of local producers closer to consumers, to strengthen trust in small-scale producer products, and to put short supply chains in place.

The organizers are evaluating the experiences of the pilot program from both the visitors’ and producers’ sides and are examining the possibility of expanding the program, as a result of which agrotourism may also appear among the county’s tourist offerings.

The network of experience portals thus established, the agrotourism developments, will contribute to the strengthening of small farms can be a driving force in the region.