Lladó cheese fair marks 30 years with 25 artisan makers

The cheese fair in Lladó has reached its third decade. On Sunday, the village's Plaça Major and the streets of its old centre once again filled with stalls, drawing visitors with an interest in artisan cheese.

Lladó is a small inland municipality in the Alt Empordà, the county that also includes Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries. Its cheese fair has now been running for three decades.

25 cheesemakers from across Catalonia

This year's edition brought together 25 artisan cheesemakers from different parts of Catalonia. Between them they offered cheeses made from four types of milk: cow, goat, sheep and buffalo.

Buffalo milk is the least familiar of the four for many visitors. It sat on the stalls alongside the more traditional cow, goat and sheep varieties.

The cheesemakers were not the only exhibitors. Another 17 producers from other parts of the food sector also took part. Their products included biscuits, cured meats, wine, olive oil, jams, bread and chocolate.

Some of the stalls sold typical Catalan specialities. These included bunyols, small fried dough pastries that are common across Catalonia, and coques, a broad family of Catalan flatbreads and cakes that can be sweet or savoury.

Cheese and Empordà wine pairings

Pairing sessions were one of the main features of the programme. They matched cheeses sold at the fair with wines from the Empordà Denominació d'Origen (DO).

A DO is a protected designation of origin. It guarantees that a wine comes from a defined area and meets set production rules. The DO Empordà covers wine produced in the Empordà, and its wineries have a growing presence at events across the county, including the recent Empordà Wine Fair in Figueres.

The pairing sessions in Lladó were led by two experts, Toni Gerez and Marc Masó.

Activities for families

The organisers also planned activities for families with children. Wooden games were set up for younger visitors, along with other children's activities.

This makes the fair more than a market. It gives parents a reason to stay longer and lets children take part while adults visit the stalls.

Music throughout the day

Live music played a prominent role in the programme. The Germanes Massanet performed during the day, as did DJ Mitjagger.

The fair closed with a concert by Könunpar.

Part of a busy autumn food calendar

The Lladó fair is one of several food and drink events taking place in the Alt Empordà and wider Costa Brava at this time of year. Other recent and upcoming events include the craft beer and music fair in Roses.

For residents of Empuriabrava and Castelló d'Empúries, the cheese fair offered a chance to leave the coast and visit one of the county's inland villages.

The Bigger Picture

Reaching three decades is a notable milestone for any village fair. It suggests that the event has built a loyal following and a stable network of producers willing to return to Lladó.

The mix of exhibitors is also telling. With 25 cheesemakers and 17 other food producers, the fair appears to have grown beyond cheese into a broader showcase of Catalan artisan food. The pairing sessions with DO Empordà wines fit a wider trend in the county, where local wine is increasingly presented alongside other regional products, as seen at events such as Beu-te el museu.

For visitors based on the coast, events like this one offer a different side of the Alt Empordà, away from the beaches and marinas. It is worth watching whether future editions continue to expand the food and wine offer, and whether inland fairs such as Lladó's can attract more of the international residents and visitors who spend time on the Costa Brava outside the summer season.