It was 1968 when the Council Members of the six municipalities that cover the Deza district (Lalín, Silleda, Vila de Cruces, Rodeiro, Agolada and Dozón) gathered under the motto “United by the same eagerness” in order to articulate a promotion and sale strategy for products linked to our region’s typical gastronomy.
One of those six councils — specifically the Town Council of Lalín — decided to implement the ideas emerged from that encounter by creating the Cocido Fair, an event celebrated for the first time in 1969 to exalt the most traditional and remarkable dish of the Galician cuisine – the pork stew or, as we call it, “O COCIDO”. Since then, the Fair has steadily grown to become an important Galician gastronomic reference and an unavoidable event as a preface to Carnival. Let us remember that Lalín Cocido Fair always takes place on the Sunday before Carnival Sunday.
The continued growth of the Cocido Fair thanks to the numerous tourists coming from different places in Galicia and even Spain contributed to it being declared Galician Festivity of Tourist Interest in the last year of the past century (Resolution of 24 June 1999, Galician Official Gazette No 131 of 9 July). Later on, a new recognition raised it to Festivity of National Tourist Interest (Resolution of 2 June 2010, Spain’s Official State Gazette No 156 of 28 June).
The Town Council of Lalín organises several initiatives aimed at popularising our most outstanding dish and promoting the municipality. Worthy of mention are: the Cocido Month, the awards ceremony of the Álvaro Cunqueiro Gastronomic Journalism Prize (broadcasted on the Galician TV), concerts, pork stew tastings in different cities and countries, the traditional pig slaughter, etc.
Some of the main attractions are: the parade of floats, Carnival troupes and charanga bands, the holding of concerts and various activities, and of course, the fair itself, where the best products from the lands of Deza are displayed.
Come visit us and don’t forget that… “From St. Amarus’ Day to St. Valentine’s Day, Cocido Month in Lalín“.
