The director of the Vuelta a España, Javier Guillén, and the presenter of TVG and "Circom Award to the New Talent on Screen 2022" join the Encomenda 2023, which will be made up of five other outstanding personalities. The director of the Vuelta a España, Javier Guillén, and the journalist and presenter of the Galician Television -of the programme Malicia Noticias since 2019 and of the programme Vaya Fiesta since 2022-, Noelia Rey, who was awarded with the "Circom Award to the New Talent on Screen 2022" given by the European Agency of Regional Televisions join the Encomenda del Cocido 2023, of which the town crier José Ribagorda will be part in this edition; the businesswoman from Lalí, Clara Rodríguez; the also from Lalí, president of the Carabelo Association, Valentina Díaz; the artist Xosé A. Touriñán and the ambassador of Argentina in Spain, Raúl Alfonsín. This was announced today by the Mayor, José Crespo, in the presentation in Santiago de Compostela of the LV Feria del Cocido, in which he was accompanied by the Director of Tourism of Galicia, Nava Castro; by the General Secretary of Linguistic Policy, Valentín García; by the Councillor of Culture and Tourism of the City Council of Lalín, Begoña Blanco, and by the cook Álex Iglesias, who made a live tasting of cocido. Crespo stated that "the LV Feria del Cocido that we will celebrate this Sunday 12 February will be the first edition to be held normally and without restrictions since 2020, being one of the few important festivals that did not lose any edition, it was only delayed". He stressed that "we wanted to make a special effort at all levels for the Fair to regain momentum after these two atypical years". An effort," he stressed, "that translates into a very media edition, as we recover the Gala del Cocido in which we will have as outstanding performances Omar Montes and Beret, among others; also Telecinco will broadcast its midday news on the 12th live from the Plaza de la Iglesia, and in which we will have a pregonero of exception as Pepe Ribagorda". "Also in this edition of the Fair we will have the presence of three delegations extranxeiras in the town: Chascomús, Federation of the Linden and Escaldes, in addition to having an important poster in the Encomenda", he stressed. Also the mayor advanced that it will be a "solidary edition" since March 30 will be celebrated in Madrid the Cocido Solidario de la ONCE for 1111 people. "It will probably be at the Palacio de Cristal in the Casa de Campo and will be prepared by half a dozen cooks from Lalin who will travel to Madrid to prepare it in situ," he added. "An event that we will do hand in hand and in collaboration with ONCE, which is already advanced and in which a wide representation of the political, social and cultural life of the capital will participate and that will help to spread the fair and the dish", he remarked. Similarly, he referred to the fact that this year "a further step will be taken in the promotion of our products". "So in this edition there will be a novelty such as the Food Craft Fair that joins the celebration of Alvariza, which this year celebrated its second edition," he said. "Sunday is expected to be a day with a large capacity. It is expected to be a beautiful day and the number of reservations is overflowing. In fact we were told by some of the big restaurants that they have been rejecting reservations for weeks and referring them to other establishments in neighbouring municipalities," he added. "Cocido Month has been going on for a long time. It started back in October, and it is still going strong and hopefully it will end well ahead. There are innkeepers who have been cooking all winter who have been full every weekend since December. They say it's been a great season for stews," he said. He explained that "we have been working for some months on bringing together the most important fairs in Galicia such as the Octopus, Seafood and Cocido to form a lobbie of festivals with other festivals of the same size on a national level to help us spread our joint gastronomic image and attract potential visitors at an international level". "The Cocido Fair was the first international gastronomic fair and we want to continue to open barriers that allow us to promote our attractions and sell our top quality products," he said. He concluded by "inviting all Galicians to come to Lalín to enjoy the gastronomic fair that breaks the ice in the calendar of major festivals and to enjoy the prelude to Carnival". For her part, the director of Tourism of Galicia, Nava Castro, stressed that "the staging of the presentation could not have been better as it is representing the tradition and the image of what the real Cocido de Lalín is like". He also emphasised that "after being declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest, it was awarded the distinction of Gastronomic Festival of International Tourist Interest, which served to position Lalín as a geographical enclave when people talk about eating a cocido in any part of the country or even internationally. In addition to this, and to boast of the tradition, it is selling outside Galicia that here, in the Galician community, they know how to do things". On the other hand, the general secretary of Linguistic Policy Valentín García, apologized for the absence of the Regional Minister of Culture, Román Rodríguez, and stressed that "the presentation of this Fair in this cultural enclave such as the City of Culture of Galicia, is a real success, also, being Lalín an agricultural and livestock power, and producer of its own raw material is even more remarkable". He also indicated that "it is one of the first festivals of the year and brings together all those who are from the area and those who are fans of this type of food, and Galicians like to gather around a table with a good stew and especially a Cocido de Lalín". He concluded by stressing that "this festival is not only a gastronomic festivity but has already become a social event to which many of the residents of both the region and the Galician territory attend".
