D*na Festival will bring together the best chefs in its new edition, which will have the sea as the protagonist
D*na Festival returns on September 30 and October 1, 2023 with a new edition, the sixth now, which will once again bring together renowned chefs, producers, restaurateurs and gastronomes, on the Paseo de la Marineta Cassiana in Dénia (Alicante) to enjoy and learn from the particular way of understanding life and cuisine on the shores of the Mediterranean.
As Quique Dacosta, gastronomic curator of the festival, explains, "in this new edition, D*na becomes thematic. Under the theme of the sea, it will explore the relationship of human beings with the sea and its importance as economic, cultural, gastronomic and tourist axis. Thus, all the presentations, workshops, stands, products and suppliers will converge on the sea both conceptually and physically, as they will be developed along a route that this year is expanded to host even more scenarios and activities open to the public.
On the main stage of the Festival, presentations and showcookings by renowned chefs such as Ángel León, José Avillez, the Torres brothers and Maca de Castro, among many others, will take place. "We have invited chefs from the Iberian Peninsula and the islands of all those regions that have the sea and that in some way treasure a wealth that is worthy of being told in our D*na," he says. Quique Dacosta.
A second stage will be dedicated to the product, and renowned professionals from the kitchens of the Valencian Community will pass by to talk about seafood cuisine through stews and regional cauldrons. This setting will also host interesting cooking and seafood workshops, open to the public upon registration.
The product and its producers will also play a leading role through the numerous tasting stands that will be located in a central plaza.
A tourist and gastronomic reference in the Mediterranean
The sixth edition of D*na consolidates this festival as one of the great gastronomic events in our country and positions the city of Dénia - which in 2015 was named Creative City of Gastronomy by UNESCO - as the gastronomic capital of the Mediterranean.
As an example of this relevance, the presentation of the sixth edition of D*na – held today at the Llisa Negra restaurant in Valencia – included the participation of the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana, Nuria Montes and the mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, accompanied by Quique Dacosta and Rosa Martí, cook at the La Giralda restaurant in Dénia.
The festival is organized by the Dénia Creative City of Gastronomy Foundation of the Valencian Community and has the collaboration through an agreement between Turisme Comunitat Valenciana and the Dénia City Council. This public-private collaboration has been one of the values of the festival highlighted by Nuria Montes, who stated that "an event like this can only go ahead through the collaboration of public administrations, Quique Dacosta and the entire business community. of Dénia. A symbiosis that is a successful strategy. Montes has also described D*na as an "example of the strength of gastronomy as a tourist product, especially in the Valencian Community.".
In this same sense, the mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, has expressed himself, pointing out that "in just a few years, D*na has become another symbol of our city and a gastronomic and tourist reference for our Community."
For her part, chef Rosa Martí, representing the Dianense restoration union, has stated that "D*na contributes to all restaurateurs and we also have to support it, because it is the best propaganda that is can play Dénia".