Serbia: Belgrade Berry Festival to Be Held from June 29 to July 2

Belgrade is about to host its first ever Berry Fruits Fair in the end of June.

Close-up of ripe raspberries.
Beeld: ©ejaugsburg

The first Berry Fruits Fair will be held in Belgrade between June 29 and July 2, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia (PKS) announced. “The idea of the Belgrade Berry Festival is to present what Serbia is known for in the world, which are berries, that is, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. These are all produces that Serbia export in great quantities and something that has positioned Serbia as a major force in that field,” stated Veljko Jovanovic, a representative of the PKS, at a press conference.

The festival is backed by the PKS and the German Development Cooperation in Serbia (GIZ), and the festival’s partners are the Tourism Organization of Serbia (TOS) and the Ministry of Agriculture. A representative of GIZ, Zagorka Markovic, said that organic agriculture had been the focus of their project for over fifteen years. “We have done plenty of different activities with the PKS, whereby our focus has been moving from organic to exclusively sustainable agriculture. In that sense, we are very happy to support an innovative concept,” Ms. Markovic said, emphasizing that the festival would also focus on green transformation, as well as educating citizens about sustainable agriculture.

The harvesting season of strawberries and blueberries is in full swing and for raspberries it is now starting. Producers are facing difficult times with berry pickers since it is labor-intensive work. A daily salary goes up to €50 but professional pickers are hard to find. As an alternative, Serbian farmers are thinking of hiring seasonal workers from eastern European and/or Asian countries, since they are already present in Serbia as fieldhands working in agriculture.

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