El Día E (E Day) is a celebration of the Spanish language and culture that takes place each year on the 3rd Saturday of June (or the Saturday closest to the summer solstice). It was started in 2009 by the Instituto Cervantes institution (Spanish equivalent to Goethe Institut, Alliance Francaise, or British Council) with the purpose of promoting the Spanish language and culture, its importance in the world and the unity of its speakers. Since then, every one of the centers located in more than 20 countries (including our lovely Bremen, Germany) come together in the distance to celebrate the Día E, by organising events for all, little and not so little. And...after a lot of hard PR work, we managed to get a tv station to come and some reporters from the regional newspaper! So rewarding :)
This year I was lucky enough to be part of it thanks to my internship. The weeks coming up to Dia E were probably some of the busiest, most exhausting weeks so far, but seeing the results, it was all well worth it. We had amazing food, not only from Spain but also from Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile (thanks for that to the lovely people from
AMAC, Gaby Salinas,
Delicatino and
Gerken), it all accompanied by tropical fruits and a distilled liquors tasting. Super interesting workshops and readings for children thanks to
Amiguitos Verlag. And last but not least, a great salsa show and dance class! Who'd want to miss such a wonderfully entertaining day? I wouldn't!
Shame it rained on and off the whole time, but not even that could "rain on our parade", we were there to enjoy the celebration, so we did.
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| A good Paella should never be a miss at a Spanish celebration! |
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| The Mexican decorations were a treat... |
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| & so was their food! |
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| The Peruvians had so so so much to offer... |
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| it was almost impossible to choose! |
Special mention of the day goes to the lovely guys from
Windrose Delikatessen and their distilled liquors. They are a lovely couple from southern Spain who've moved to Hamburg to sell the amazing liquors distilled at their family's distillery in a small town in Huelva since 1895. The travel around Germany going to fairs, events and celebrations with their wagon and an arsenal of novelty and old school liquors, both for tasting and selling. I'd highly recommend the maraschino cherry liquor (with cherry!) and the caramelised vodka. But can also find the traditional Anis among many other classics. If you are not so lucky to find them on the road, you can also order online
here. These bottles are incredibly cheap for the amazing quality, great for a present or personal collection equally. And, for those of you interested, you can have a 10% off from any purchase using the code "frühling".
Oh and how could I forget the wonderfully heavenly Chilean milhojas? Completely different to our traditional spanish ones. Great dessert for a very richly flavoured day!
Great day, with great people and incredibly fun...definitely a must on my next year's calendar already!
Labels: Bremen, celebration, culture, día e, distillery, germany, lifestyle, liquors, Spanish language, windrose delikatessen
