According to the mayor of Oliveira do Hospital, José Francisco Rolo, this event is responsible for attracting “many thousands of visitors to the county”.

“It gives enormous centrality to a product of great excellence such as Serra da Estrela cheese, as well as to other endogenous products, generating great business conditions and wealth for its producers”, he added.

The Serra da Estrela de Oliveira do Hospital Cheese Festival, considered “the biggest Cheese Festival in Portugal”, will take place on the 11th and 12th of March, in the heart of the city in the district of Coimbra.

José Francisco Rolo highlighted that this event “is a great lever for the local economy”, giving as an example the high occupancy rates that are normally registered in the catering and hotel sectors.

“We are all going to commit ourselves to the edition of another successful fair, which will show the country our enormous tourist and gastronomic potential, also projecting an image of great dynamism and vitality of our producers”, he maintained.

The Serra da Estrela DOP cheese will be the “king” of the party, but it will be joined by hundreds of exhibitors of endogenous products, sausages, Dão wines, honey, handicrafts and gastronomy.

For the second weekend of March, various initiatives are being prepared, which visitors will find in the festival grounds, centered on Largo Ribeiro do Amaral and extending to some nearby streets.

Different artisans from the municipality of Oliveira do Hospital will give live demonstrations of their crafts.

Cultural and musical entertainment “will be constant”, with the presence of dozens of groups from the municipality and region, who will perform in the festival grounds and on the various stages at the event.

The Serra da Estrela Cheese Festival starts on March 11th, at 9:00 am, with the live broadcast of the Terra-a-Terra program, on TSF. In the afternoon of March 12, the broadcast of the TVI program “Somos Portugal” will show “the biggest cheese festival in the country” on television screens in Portugal and abroad.