In July of this year, the team at EGM Cigars are looking forward to attending the ‘Encuentro Amigos de Partagás’ Festival held in Matelica, Italy. The name of the Festival translates to ‘Encounter Friends of Partagás’ and as it suggests is dedicated to the celebration of Partagás cigars.
The Festival is organised by Francesco Minetti (see our interview with him on our Cuban Cigar Blog), and will be celebrating its thirteenth birthday this year. Its modest beginning in 2005 lasted just one day and had only two to three Cubans in the cigar industry attend. Now the Festival is known worldwide, celebrated over four days and has a number of interesting and important individuals attend; including many Cubans.
The courtyard is brimming with cigar enthusiasts on one balmy evening during the Festival last year. Photo: http://www.amigosdepartagas.it
Over the course of four days, that unmistakeable scent of cigars will fill the city, the idyllic lanes and pretty alleyways of the old town decorated with ribbons of blue smoke and the Old Town alight with warm white lights.
On a long weekend in July, the small city of Matelica with just under 10,000 people inhabiting it, will play host to around 3000 cigar smokers from all over the world. During this time, a number of events will take place in the quiet and beautiful inner courtyard of the museum and the stunning theatre which will be open to the public and filled with guests.
People meet old friends and make new ones during the festival and here they make memories for life.
The closing gala will be one of the most stunning occasions of the festival. As it brings an end to a beautifully curated event, guests will dine on the most exquisite dishes and smoke outdoors whilst enjoying a view of the charming medieval town.
The Programme for this year’s festival was released in December of 2017 and we have been eagerly anticipating it ever since. Read the programme below to get an inkling into what sort of activities and events will be held for attendees. We're certainly excited about sampling a number of cigars and we're sure many of our cigars online will be enjoyed over the course the four days.
We’re going to be reporting live on our EGM Cigars Instagram and using our Cigar blog to provide daily stories. What would you like us to cover and are any of our readers attending this year? Let us know in the comments section below!