Gabala International Jam Festival

At the event, which took place in the park in front of the Caucasus Hotel Karavan-Saray, pastry-makers from 22 countries - Turkey, Germany, Belarus and Great Britain, Georgia, Croatia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova and Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Poland and Serbia, Saudi Arabia and Slovakia, Northern Cyprus and China presented their products , as well as masters representing 44 cities and regions of Azerbaijan.

The festival held under the auspices of the World Association of Culinary Organizations and the World Organization of Folk Art was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Executive Authority of the Gabala region, the Azerbaijan National Culinary Center, ambassadors of several countries in Azerbaijan, several thousand local and foreign guests.

The main goal of such festivals is to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of our people. The jam festival is one of the factors that give impetus to the development of tourism. It is not by chance that this event has already been held for the fifth time in Gabala which has passed a long way of development, which plays an important role in shaping the culinary culture of our people.

Now we  turn to the most important thing - to the jam, which was abundant at the festival, because this is a grand event and could not be otherwise. The assortment spoke for itself. However, the main thing is not quantity but quality, well and of course variety. This event is considered to be a real holiday for sweet teeth and Carlson, the famous cartoon character who was very fond of jam.

Initially, the festival held a culinary competition, during which each participant of the event wanted to surprise the jury which included experts in the relevant field and experts. The competition presented jam from pears, raentes, pomegranates, blackberries, strawberries, quinces, walnuts, apricots, rose petals, plums, figs, dogwoods, as well as unusual types, such as melon, corn, sunflower, yellow raspberries, cucumbers, eggplants, lemon, wild cherry plum, violets, mint, rose hips, tomatoes, carrots, as well as medicinal flowers, plants. The range is really impressive.

At the end of the competition the winners were determined in three nominations, which received their well-deserved awards,including cups, medals and valuable gifts.

Most of the guests of the festival were waiting for this very moment because after the competition everyone could try the jam presented at the competition. Of course, even before the winners were announced some participants of the festival were selling samples of their products but it is always interesting to try the winners jam.

Despite the fact that the main culprit of the celebration was jam, the participants of the event presented other products, including the most delicious Azerbaijani national sweets, dishes of national cuisine, dried fruits, wines of local producers and much more.

Along with food production, there was a place at the festival for the works of folk and decorative and applied arts of Azerbaijani masters. Here were presented products from glass, wood, clay, metal, precious stones and much more.

The festival continued with an interesting concert program. The event was attended by art groups from different regions of Azerbaijan who performed in national costumes and entertained the public. There were women in national costumes, and men in clothing of sheep hides. At the event there were also tightrope walkers and brave guests could try their hand and find out how well they are able to maintain balance while moving on the rope.