Good practice:

The Transilvanian Brunch - Discover the food culture of the countryside. Itinerant event series

The Transylvanian Brunch is a multi-partner project organized by local organizations and co-financed by Sibiu County Council with the aim of linking the urban with the rural area and utilizing the region’s heritage and traditions, in a redesigned way, for supporting food local producers and small enterprises, thereby establishing a self-sustainable community.
The brunch events target local community through three different dimensions – a culinary part that provides meals for the urban visitors prepared by the villagers of local seasonal ingredients while telling about the traditions behind food, a “slow travel” experience that guides locals through the village and its built heritage and a workshop that educates about the specifics, crafts, products and arts of each place. These help inhabitants establish a better connection with their regions offerings and local producers thereby establishing a sustainable community and contributing to economic growth through gastronomy. The growth in the number of visitors and participants are indicative of the events’ success.

The organizers team consist of about 15 persons, locals, and volunteers from the city, assisting roughly 100 participants per event. The event works also with a donation, akin to an entrance fee, that covers the ingredients, cooks and work of the locals involved, including equipment or firewood.

Years since it started: 12
Annual events: 6 in 2008, 31 in 2019
Local communities included in the venue list: 72
Total amount of visitors per year: 90 in 2008, 7.000 in 2018
Evolution of the fixed donation: EUR 7,5 in 2008, EUR 22 in 2019
Number of TV appearances in the national media: 11 video reporting
Volunteers involved: 0 in 2008, 34 in 2019
Partners attracted in the project: Sibiu County Council Sibiu, Tourism Association, Colinele Transilvaniei DMO, ASTRA Museum, Slow Food Sibiu

The project encountered two major problems:
- ensuring all legal aspects: documents of origin for the ingredients, authorization of the used kitchen, legally hiring the local helpers, fiscal
- logistics as an outdoor event: water and electricity supply, washing machines, shadow solutions

The major advantage of the project is its self-sustainability. The second success argument relies in understanding the social structure in the rural area or how a community works together. The various patterns of these people based local networks are the key findings. The event series from Sibiu county were easily replicated in adjacent counties and across other Romanian provinces:
- in 2013 to 3 nearby counties in Transylvania: Alba, Mureș, Brașov with local Slow Food communities
- in 2018 to other two regions Oltenia (5 counties: Vâlcea, Gorj, Mehedinți, Olt and Dolj) and Muntenia (5 counties reached: Argeș, Călărași, Dâmbovița, Prahova, Teleorman) with a local partner, the travel agency My Secret Romania
- in 2019 to the regions of North Transylvania (5 counties: Cluj, Bistrița-Năsăud, Bihor, Sălaj and Maramureș), Banat (1 county: Timișoara), Dobrogea (2 counties: Tulcea, Constanța) and Moldova (2 counties: Iași and Suceava) partnering with the local Slow Food conviva.