The Parma Ham Festival comes to town

From Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September, a huge festival in honour of the King of Hams

Everything is ready for the grand finale of the Parma Ham Festival, the festivities that - starting on 29th August - involved the municipalities of the characteristic area for the production of the King of Hams in a myriad of tastings and cultural and artistic events, and that yet again this year had a record number of visitors. During the Langhirano weekend (5th-6th September), the most attended one in the province, the Parma prosciutterie (Parma Ham shops) were stormed by 50 thousand gourmets and the factories were visited by three thousand tourists, joining the “Finestre Aperte” initiative: a tried and tested formula that allows gourmet tourists to see the naturalness and authenticity of the product for themselves through a guided tour in the producer's company. A unique chance to discover that the 10 million Parma Hams produced each year by the 164 companies of the Parma Ham Consortium are made today, like they were two thousand years ago, using only two ingredients: the prized Italian pig leg and a pinch of sea salt.
 
The Parma Ham Festival, for the second year running, is allowing itself some “poetic licence”, in other words a stop in the city of Parma where the Ham CANNOT be produced. Not everyone knows that the strict Parma Ham production specifications – registered with the European Union as a PDO product – requires that all the production stages take place in the southern part of the province of Parma, at least 5 kilometres from Via Emilia, and precisely in the part bounded to the east by the Enza river and to the west by the Stirone river. Here, and only here, exists that unique microclimate, that dry and fragrant air that allows the long maturing of the legs that leads to the unique sweetness of Parma Ham.
 
But Parma Ham bears the name and elegance of its town. That is why the Festival ends in style in the salon of the dukedom, among its sophisticated town centre streets, its Romanesque masterpieces, its Verdi music, its fashionable boutiques, its masterpieces by Correggio and Parmigianino - welcomed with enthusiasm by the inhabitants of Parma who adore it to an almost embarrassing extent.
 
The festival starts on Friday 18th September at 17.00 in Piazza Garibaldi, pulsating heart of the ducal town, where a tasting stand will be inaugurated. Inside, in the company of a good glass of wine, visitors will be able to taste Parma Hams that have had different maturing times. Fabio Campoli, the chef in RAI television programmes (“Uno Mattina” and “Uno Mattina Estate”), will open the festivities and, for the occasion, will present three new recipes taken from his book “Note di Gusto” published by Cucina&Vini. This will be followed at 18.00 by the inauguration of the “Strada del Vino e dei Sapori” Market with an extravagant offer of food-and-wine excellencies from Emilia Romagna in Piazza Steccata and Via Garibaldi.  At 19.30, the appointment is in via Cavour with an “open air” photographic exhibition dedicated to the Parma Ham territory. The photographer Renato Cerisola has immortalized the elements of the Parma territory, the atmosphere of the places of production, the wooden frames on which the legs mature while the producers wait patiently, in great style and with sensitivity combined with an originality that will not fail to surprise and thrill the public.

Saturday 19th at 18.00, one of the most awaited moments of this edition of the Festival: the charity auction that will be held in the heart of Parma that for the occasion will be transformed into a giant open air Prosciutteria (Parma Ham Shop). The lots will consist of a careful selection of very high quality samples, chosen by the experts of the Parma Ham Consortium so as to be able to represent the best of the sweet King of Hams: the largest ham, the ham matured at the highest point, the ham matured for the longest time…. The proceeds will be donated to the earthquake victims in Abruzzo. The showman Claudio Lippi will conduct the auction. 

The day will end with a charity dinner “1000 for Abruzzo” in the magnificent courtyard of the Guazzatoio in Pilotta and the proceeds will be donated to the rebuilding of Villa Sant’Angelo in Abruzzo. The guest of honour will be Guido Bertolaso, Undersecretary to the Prime Minister's Office.

Everyone can attend the charity dinner by purchasing a ticket for 25 euros from the IAT (tourist information and reception desk) of the Municipality of Parma in Via Melloni 1/a (telephone +39 0521 218889).

Sunday 20th, from 10.00, visitors will have the possibility of tasting Parma Ham in the stand in Piazza Garibaldi and doing some gourmet shopping in the market in Piazza Steccata and Via Garibaldi.
 
From 10.30, it will be possible to visit the Parma Ham factories in the characteristic production area with free shuttle coaches leaving from viale Toschi according to the timetable published on the following site. 

This year, the Festival has a more “international” touch: press representatives from various countries of the world are expected in Parma; from England to Germany, through Belgium and Norway. Thirty journalists from important Food and Travel newspapers have been invited to Parma by the Parma Ham Consortium for a journey in search of the excellencies of the city and the province, with a stop in a Parma Ham factory to learn all the secrets about the production of Parma Ham. 

You can also follow the Festival on facebook: www.facebook.com/consorzio.prosciuttodiparma and on the youtube channel of the Parma Ham Consortium: www.youtube.com/ProsciuttodiParmaDOP.
 
“The Festival is a unique opportunity to show Parma Ham lovers that our product holds no secrets, that it is prepared using only Italian meat and salt, today just as it was two thousand years ago. We are happy to close this long Festival in Parma and hope that this event is useful for further promoting the quality of our product that is today sold in over 60 countries around the world, generating a turnover of 1.7 billion euros” said Paolo Tanara, president of the Parma Ham Consortium.

Press Office
Fabrizio Raimondi
ufficiostampa@prosciuttodiparma.com
+39 0521 246 242 – + 39 335 389848
www.prosciuttodiparma.com