The Yaiza Cheese and Goat Fair kicks off with a massive turnout

The Yaiza City Council anticipated a good turnout, but the response from residents and tourists to the program on the first day of the Cheese and Goat Fair, Canary Islands Day, has been unsurpassed. Hundreds of visitors passed through the Plaza de la Alameda in Yaiza from its opening at ten in the morning until well into the afternoon and evening to taste the exquisite local gastronomy, the local wines, and above all, to clearly demonstrate their support for local products.

In a spacious, comfortable, and well-distributed area, the public ate, drank, danced, and enjoyed themselves at their leisure in a lively gathering among neighbors, family, and friends. The weather was also a great ally because it was not hot, and only at specific moments was it necessary to activate the water misting system installed in the main tent.

Up to forty exhibitors gathered in Yaiza with a diversity of culinary creations, wines, liqueurs, desserts, and other delicacies that conquered the palates of the visitors. The Cheese and Goat Fair also provided space for sports clubs and NGOs, thus showing their most solidary side. The partial balance for the cheese dairies is excellent, two of them from the municipality of Yaiza, Rubicón de Femés and Finca de Uga, but all see the fair as a great showcase to remember the value of local products and the hard work and dedication behind each cheese and bottle of wine.

The Association of Artisan Cheese Dairies of Lanzarote (Aqual), a great ally of Yaiza in this venture, also highlights the boost that the fair provides to the primary sector. The mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, publicly thanked "the commitment of cheese dairies, wineries, restaurants, and all the exhibitors at the fair, as well as the collaboration of the Cabildo de Lanzarote." Women's sports were also present at the fair with an exhibition by the Tinecheide Wrestling Club.

Yaiza resumed the fair this year after the last edition held in 2019 and the partial result has been extraordinary. Apart from local products and culinary elaborations, many of them based on goat meat, the public enjoyed live music, cheese tastings for children and adults, inspired by the legacy of master cheesemaker Tito González Medina, and the show cooking by chef Rubén Cuesta from the Kamezí restaurant, Lanzarote's first Michelin star. Cuesta, born in Toledo and very close to the culture of the Islands, cooked and offered twenty diners goat tartare, a camel herders' lunch, and kid goat. A day of flavors in the Plaza de la Alameda of Yaiza that continues this Sunday the 31st with more activities.