Macau, China, June 27, 2025 (Lusa) - Four Brazilian cities, Florianópolis, Belém, Paraty and Belo Horizonte, will participate in the International Festival of Gastronomy Cities in Macau between July 11–20, authorities announced on Friday.
In Brazil, there are “only four cities” recognised as Creative Cities in Gastronomy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and “all of them will be here,” said the director of Macau’s Tourism Services (DST).
At a press conference, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes said that “the event will bring together 34 of the 56 UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy from 21 countries across six continents”.
She regretted that the city of Santa Maria da Feira, in Portugal, had decided not to join the festival.
The participating cities will send chefs to give cooking demonstrations to the public at the Roman Coliseum Square and Legend Boulevard at Macau’s Fisherman’s Wharf.
This year’s theme is “Spices and Aromatic Herbs” and will focus on the role of spices and aromatic herbs as essential ingredients in cuisines around the world.
"There will be more than 100 stalls, including 25 from mainland China (including Chengdu, Shunde, Yangzhou, Huai’an and Chaozhou), nine from Asia (including Phuket, Thailand; Hatay, Turkey; Buraidah, Saudi Arabia and Iloilo, Philippines) and 52 from Macau with local cuisine,” said the DST.
In addition, the International Gastronomy Forum lectures will be held on the 14th, under the theme “The Taste of Life: Macau's Culinary Links.”
The event has a budget of 27.8 million patacas (€2.9 million at the current exchange rate).
The semi-autonomous Chinese region has been recognised as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy since 2017.
At the time, the organisation highlighted Macau’s “important experience” in hosting large-scale gastronomy-related events, such as “the Macau Food Festival, a landmark event that brings together local and international chefs and key stakeholders from across Asia and Europe”.
“Other important festivals are the Festival da Lusofonia, which promotes and exchanges cultural knowledge among the countries and regions of the Portuguese-speaking world, and the Festival of Cooking and Culture of Myanmar [former Burma] and Southeast Asia”, UNESCO said.
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