The Znojmo Grape Festival
- from Jamie Oliver to worldwide cuisine.
Unlike those of us who don't add another year to our age until the last guest has left our birthday party and we have gathered up all the champagne corks, this festival proudly counts itself a year older on the very day of its opening. The Znojmo Grape Festival, an international festival of television and radio programmes and commercials, makes itself heard this year for the twelfth time. For now quiet and perhaps a little self-conscious, the preparations for the Festival's twelfth year, which will take place in Zojmo from 14th to 17th September, are slowly gathering momentum.
At the forefront of the Festival are competitions for which radio and television channels from all over the world enter their programmes on "food, drink and of course dining and gastronomic culture in their country" and articles by eminent specialist magazines.
Jamie Oliver, Yes Chef and Boys in Action
Its focus on gastronomy in itself of course makes the Znojmo Grape Festival interesting and pleasant. Yet it is first and foremost an exceptional project which is not only of national but also international significance. Thanks to the fact that practically right from the first year of the Festival, television organisations such as BBC, TF1, RAI and others have participated in the television section of the competitions, we have been able to follow culinary virtuosos such as Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Mike Robinson, James Martin and Keith Floyd. What's more, last year, the highest award of the Festival went to the programme, "Ano, šéfe" ("Yes, Chef") on the Czech TV channel Prima.
Since its beginnings, the Festival has presented thousands of radio and television programmes, and from 2004, it has included commercials too. In addition, the Festival provides an opportunity for extensive professional and social networking, and over the last few years has even crossed Zojmo's town boundaries, the town from which up to now it has been inseparable. National days offer an opportunity to take a look into the kitchens of our neighbours and to become acquainted with the gastronomy of faraway countries.
„It's also important for me that it's a place to meet up with...colleagues, professionals in the field, friends, which in the era of communication by internet is wonderful,“ says Jitka Vysekalová PhD, president of a Czech marketing company.
Humour, Wine Tasters, Presentation
In a period of ten years, a baby grows into a rascal, a stem into a tree and a mini-festival into a full-scale Festival. In a period of eleven years, the Znojmo Grape Festival judges, for example, have listened to, watched and vetted 1800 programmes and texts entered in all categories. Children from nursery and primary schools have created for "their" competition, A Full Plate of Painting, approximately three thousand drawings and gastronomic cartoons, from among which one of our foremost cartoonists Josef Kucera Cobra, annually presents dozens of works at events by Europe's cutting edge cartoonists. In the ten years of its existence, this "exhibition of humour" has made those interested laugh at almost 1600 funny cartoons.
The Znojmo Grape Wine Tasting Competition also boasts exceptional publicity, with 170 junior entrants having participated in six years. The first wine tasting competition took place at the sixth festival, in 2004. It has the distinction of young entrants being entered by specialist catering colleges in the Czech and Slovak Republics. The first year was presided over by the masterful Peter Keczkés from Nový Zámek in Slovakia, today a member of the Association of Wine Tasters of the Slovak Republic. That in itself confirmed the high standard of the competition and that finalists will make their way even in the adult world. Among the previous winners of this competition is Alena Mičková, who is now a wine taster for Merlot d´Or“.
Cocktails and Classics
Flairtrix, the competition for young barmen, is also to the fore. It will be organized in Znojmo by Martin Baťha. During „his“ competition and show in the marquise on Masaryk Square, bottles will fly, music will pulse, and the audience will delightedly maintain a respectful silence at the close, at the beauty of the drinks prepared. Martin is an excellent barman, but also the co-owner of the Cocktails Party bar catering agency. He organises courses in being a barman, and has won various awards for his skills. For example, in 2002 he won third prize in the barman show world championships in Cuba. He sees barman displays as a sport, which cannot be performed while working behind a bar.
An integral part of the Festival is still its programme of accompanying events. At concerts which take place in Znojmo's ancient churches and which are the attraction of Wednesday evenings, the Prague National Theatre's baritone Vratislav Kříž, virtuoso violinists Gabriela Demeterová and Václav Hudeček and internationally renowned mezzosoprano Edita Randová have performed.
Eccles Cakes and Tea Masters
National days, which first appeared at the seventh year of the Znojmo Grape in 2005, with the aim of presenting culture and gastronomy from selected countries, are extremely popular. Over four years, we have presented Mongolia, Vietnam, Slovakia, Great Britain, Flanders, Croatia, Austria, Hungary, China, Estonia, France, Latvia, Sweden, Romania and the Czech Republic. National days have become a favourite tradition for inhabitants of and visitors to Znojmo alike, perhaps for the exoticism and unfamiliarity of the food and drink found there. The Znojmo exhibition has not overlooked the delicacies of the top English chef Mr. Doherty: English tea, wine, confectionary, biscuits and more. There has literally been a crush around Lady Milena, who has reminded us of the best kept Czech secret - the Remoska cooker, in which she and Mr. Doherty together have made cutlets and Eccles cakes. People also just as happily remember the Chinese masters of tea-making, and we must note that at times their art has caused people to hold their breath in awe.
The week of the Festival will be packed with activity this year too, as you will see from the preliminary programme.
On national days, we will present the culture and gastronomy of Egypt and Norway, and in the Czech part of the Festival, two regions – South Moravia and South Bohemia.
Please accept our open invitation.