FestíFest is back, 20 dishes to enjoy the first weekend of October

BarcelonaAfter the success of the first edition, we're back this year. Next weekend, October 4th and 5th, we have a date at the Antigua Fábrica Estrella Damm (at 515 Rosselló Street, Barcelona). The newspaper ARA, in conjunction with Fira Àpat, has once again organized the FestíFest gastronomic festival. The first edition brought together more than 5,000 attendees, and with this year's planned program, the aim is to entice the public once again.

There will be plenty to choose from. Those who come to FestíFest will have their hands full, as there will be 20 dishes on offer, two per restaurant. Savory dishes will cost 7 euros, and sweet dishes between 4 and 6 euros. The selection of participating establishments has been made to ensure that they are quality restaurants, that the menu is diverse, and that the offerings are festive, local, and succulent.

There will also be an artisan market, where you can stock up, have talks, tastings, and lots of music. You can have vermouth, lunch, or dinner, as the schedule allows for everything. It will be open on Saturday at 12 noon and continuously until closing at 11 pm. Sunday hours will be from 11 am to 10 pm.

How to buy tickets

To enter the festival, you must purchase a ticket. It's very easy to do so on the website. festifest.catThe organizers encourage advance bookings because doing so has a reward. If you buy now, you can reserve priority spots at tastings, workshops, and activities. If you're impromptu, you can buy tickets directly at the box office. However, the price will increase slightly starting on the 1st. For those already convinced and willing to purchase a ticket, there are three options on the website. The simplest, which allows entry to the venue, costs five euros, and once inside, you can top up your balance.

The other two options already include food, and a small savings. The one that costs 11 euros includes admission and a dish. And then comes the more carpant option. It's the festival professionals' package, costs 23 euros and includes, in addition to access, 20 euros in credit.

The dishes

We know them as the restaurant in Clot that delights us with their dishes, their extroversion, and their good prices. They serve Catalan cuisine and are ideal for dinner with friends and a bottle of good natural wine.

• Butifarra Sandwich: Duroc pork butifarra sandwich with Berguedà quince mayonnaise from Pobla de Lillet and Empordà olive oil.
• Bomba de la Barceloneta: Bomba stuffed with Girona beef and pork, pine nuts from the Catalan coast, garlic from Gavà and oil from Empordà, and spicy brava sauce made with Maresme tomatoes, fig onions, and chili peppers.

It's one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in Barcelona. Especially now that autumn is approaching, it's a must-visit someday and try their soup. phoTo whet your appetite, the festival brings two wonderful options for eating with your hands.

• 'Banh cuôn' or steamed cannelloni: Steamed cannelloni with freshly made rice dough stuffed with pork and vegetables, with Vietnamese sauce and fried onions.
• 'Nem cuôn' or vegetable rolls: Fresh rice paper rolls with carrot, green papaya, lettuce, mint, rice noodles, and peanut sauce. You can choose between prawns and wakame seaweed. This dish is vegan.

The Alam brothers are a key player in the restaurant scene in Barcelona. They started with The Fish & Chips Shop and now have several establishments, all of them high-quality and finger-licking good. Now, more experienced and knowing they can go one step further, they've reinvented their establishment on Balmes Street and called it El Fish Bar. You'll find a unique offering that you can try at FestíFest.

• Fried Whiting Taco: A taco with Ensenada-style fried whiting from Vilanova: candied cabbage, habanero mayonnaise, lime, and cilantro.
• Shrimp Taco: Taco with grilled shrimp from the Costa Brava, pico de gallo with mango and Cajun mayonnaise.

Cuban sandwiches are a classic at open-air markets around the world, whether in London, New York, or now Barcelona. At Mani's Cuban restaurant in the Putxet neighborhood, you can enjoy these grilled and well-stuffed sandwiches prepared with excellence.

• Pork Sandwich: Cuban sandwich with pulled pork leg from Rally d'Avignon, Duroc ham from Avignon, herb oil with orange juice, mayonnaise, mustard, cheese, and pickled cucumbers.
• Pastrami Sandwich: Girona beef pastrami sandwich, pickled cucumbers, mayonnaise and mustard mayonnaise and cheese.

Clariana describes itself as a bar and a restaurant. Its aim is to serve well-made tapas and soups for dipping bread. It's a brand-new establishment that just opened in the Born neighborhood. With a large window and a bar with stools overlooking the street, it's one of those places where the interior and exterior blend seamlessly. As for the teak, we have the opportunity to try it for the first time.

• Shrimp Ravioli: Ravioli filled with Vilanova red shrimp mussolina with coconut and lime béchamel.
• Iberian bacon taco: Iberian bacon taco with crudités of organic vegetables from Maresme and a touch of lemon.

On a pleasant corner in the Sant Antoni neighborhood, we find Culkin restaurant. They serve very creative tapas and also delicious cocktails. To try their drinks, you'll have to head to Viladomat Street. But to eat one of their dishes, you don't have to leave FestíFest, as there are two options.

• Leeks with cashew cream: Gavà leeks and Cerdanya sheep's cheese, cashews, and miso cream.
• Russian salad with octopus: With potato, Gavà carrot, mayonnaise, egg, olives, tuna, Galician octopus, wakame seaweed and sesame.

It's one of the must-sees on Enric Granados Street. While the culinary offering has changed, El Filete Ruso has never let us down. It has always offered a gourmet menu with top-quality ingredients.

• Pulled Beef Burger: Slow-cooked pulled beef burger from Salt del Colom, Soulblim arugula, shepherd's cream cheese, fried onions, and pickled gherkins with sourdough bread.
• Bravas: Patatas bravas from the Soulblim agricultural park, with cinnamon, homemade spicy oil, pepper, and candied aioli baked at a low temperature.

This restaurant is, indeed, shaped like a little house. The establishment is very close to Plaça Joanic, and we found dishes to share. If you're someone who likes to eat at the bar, this one has a very spacious one. At the festival, they offer a dish that's sure to be one of the most requested: the potato omelette.

• Great-grandmother's meatball Brioix: Brioix with Girona beef, Vic sausage, Costa Brava cuttlefish, Maresme tomatoes, Prades potatoes, and saffron.
• Potato and mint omelette: With potatoes from Prades, mint from Casa Inés' garden, eggs from Calaf, and sheep cheese from the Pyrenees.

If you like cheesecake, I'm sure you know Jon CakeAnd if you're a festival regular or stroll through Ciutat Vella, you're sure to be too. Success always precedes Jon Garcia, and we find him at the end of a long line of people who can't wait to eat his creamy cakes. He already has three locations in Barcelona and has just opened one in Girona. While this pastry chef, who started on social media, is still struggling, he'll be participating in FestíFest for another year. In fact, he's the only restaurateur who has been given the option to repeat, as the Catalan of Basque origin has no rival when it comes to cheesecakes. This year, he'll be bringing a cake with Urgelia de Cadí cheese, a Protected Designation of Origin Cheese from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya. The second offering was created especially for the festival. In this case, the base is his cream cheese and chocolate cake, with the addition of hazelnuts from Reus. This can be a well-deserved end to the party after a day of dancing, tapas, and beer.

Other queues that are famous are those that are created near the DelaCrem ice cream shopsAnd with good reason. Quality ice cream wasn't so easy to find in Barcelona when Massimo Pignata opened his first establishment. The third, located on Carrer Muntaner on the corner of the peaceful Consell de Cent, has the surname: Terra.

This one features ice creams that aren't found at either of the other two. The idea is to use locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. The more Catalan producers Massimo Pignata met, the more he fell in love with what they grew. So he has this line of zero-mile ice creams, and at the festival he'll have a good selection so you can find your perfect ice cream: there will be ricotta, saffron, and pistachio ice cream, house cream, gianduia with Reus hazelnuts, pistachios from Les Garrigues, baked sweet potato with honey, Alma lemon with Maresme strawberries, Ecuadorian cocoa made in Lleida by Ivan Pascual, and, finally, seasonal fruits.

Tastings, workshops, artisans and dancing

Activities

The activities were so well received in the first edition, so for this second edition, we've decided to expand their offerings. There's something for everyone: the painting workshop with Mònica Custodio, the organic cosmetics workshop with A Granel, the marble-effect ceramics workshop with Bakana, the wine painting workshop with Tinta y Vino, or a show cooking with Es-Imperfect.

There will also be a tasting area, with Damm beers, artisan gin with 100&nomore, fresh chilies with ¡Qué Pimientos!, farm oils with Aceites Anécdota, artisan tiramisu with Mamma Tiramisù and specialty chocolate with Kina.

In the seating area you can also enjoy an exclusive interview with the music group Sidonie with showcase, from a talk about food design From ESDI with Ivan Merino, from the ARA podcast live And this is news?, from a talk about local cuisine with Crema Club and from the section VIPs & wines with public figures. For those interested in nutrition, there will be a talk Food for a good night's sleep, with Alba Coll, from the Alícia Foundation, moderated by Cristina Sáez, as well as the talk Intermittent fasting: benefits, risks, and scientific evidence, with Núria Mallén, from CoDiNuCat, moderated by journalist Albert Diumenjó.

There will also be humor, with monologues by Àlex Vila and La Missjones (Natàlia Prat) on the DJ stage, and a hieroglyphic competition for Capficat, the ARA supplement created by La Punta de la Llengua. This activity is free to attend, but advance reservations are required to attend both the workshops (some of which require a fee) and the tastings.

Artisan market and music

There will be market stalls where you can discover quality, artisanal products from all over Catalonia. From premium gin, wines and cavas, organic chilies and peppers to handmade pottery with organic shapes and natural colors. It will be an opportunity to discover the story of the people behind these small projects. Some of them are SantsFerments, Libertine Blends, Betara Cheeses, and Mas Claperol. No party is complete without music. DJs will liven up both days. The musical program includes Hal 9000, Indie Cool, Crocoman, Zofia, Condisco, Uri Guitart, Ana Banana, and Taebasco.