The First Cherry Festival in Petrovac Near Leskovac StartedThe First Cherry Festival in Petrovac Near Leskovac StartedThe First Cherry Festival in Petrovac Near Leskovac StartedThe First Cherry Festival in Petrovac Near Leskovac Started
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Sour Cherry Festival in Petrovac near Leskovac Open

04 July 2013, Leskovac

The first Sour Cherry Festival in the village of Petrovac near Leskovac opened formally tonight and will go on until Saturday, 6 July. This event, which will gather fruit producers and processors, is part of the Sour Cherry Festival project implemented by the Civil Society Organisation “Sour Cherry 016”, as lead partner, with support from the European Union and the Swiss Government through European Partnership with Municipalities Programme – EU PROGRES and the City of Leskovac.

The first day of the festival featured professional presentations of renewable energy sources and the production of pellet from sour cherry pits, as well as the medicinal qualities of the fruit. The entertainment programme included performances by VIS Ruzmarin and KUD Hisarlije, as well as the play Croak My Husband, performed by the Leskovac Cultural Centre.

The Town of Leskovac and Municipalities Lebane and Merošina signed a Cooperation Agreement for the production and placement of sour cherry, and it is expected that this document will also be signed by Medveđa, Vlasotince and Bojnik. The Festival was formally opened by the State Secretary for Local Self-Government with the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Self-Government, Dragan Stevanović and Deputy Mayor of Leskovac, Dragan Jovanović.         

“Over the past several years, Jablanički and Pčinjski Districts have seen the surplus in production only in agriculture, where sour cherry belongs. These festivals are an opportunity to discuss the production and processing of fruit, as well as the development of fruit production, so I hope this event will be held in the years to come,“ Stevanović said.

“This is the first sour cherry festival in South Serbia, organised with financial support from the European Union and the Swiss Government, after the picking has been completed. This festival is very important because cherry trees cover an area of around 1,000 hectares in Jablanički District, and last year the exports of this fruit from Serbia amounted to 75 million Euro,” Jovanović said.

Women’s Associations from across Serbia will participate in the festival, presenting traditionally made pies and cherry cakes and other home made products, which the visitors will have an opportunity to taste. During the festival South Serbian municipalities will present their subsidy and support programmes for fruit producers, and the advisory team will answer the fruit producers’ questions. The producers that have used subsidies will also present their best practices, and there will also be presentations by the distributors of the most up-to-date agricultural fruit production equipment.

This event will also include a series of educational lectures about the promotion of agricultural and food production, the importance of joining associations and cooperatives, rural development, rural tourism, organic sour cherry production, alternative use of renewable energy sources and the technology for the production of delicatesse sour cherry wine and schnapps.

The Sour Cherry Festival project is implemented by Civil Society Organisation “Sour Cherry 016” in partnership with the Agency for Local Economic Development (ALED), Tourist Organisation of Leskovac, Cultural Centre Leskovac and the Town of Leskovac.

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Please be informed that the European Partnership with Municipalities Programme – EU PROGRES was completed on 31 March 2014. If you would like to learn about the activities and results of the European PROGRES, which is a continuation of development support of the European Union and Government of Switzerland to the South East and South West Serbia, please visit www.europeanprogres.org