San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, has invited Paducah to participate in a unique collaboration of UNESCO Creative Cities during the first artisanal and gastronomic festival “Sabores y Saberes,” February 2-5, 2018.

The new festival aims to promote local gastronomic and artisanal expressions and global connections in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network through cultural exchange and international collaboration. The event will contemplate the transversal connection between gastronomy and crafts and folk art with the participation of Creative Cities, including Icheon, South Korea (Crafts & Folk Art); Ensenada, Baja California (Gastronomy); Paducah, USA (Crafts & Folk Art); and Popayan, Colombia (Gastronomy).

The Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is coordinating a delegation of local artists, educators and leaders to participate in sharing artisanal knowledge, “Saberes,” and gastronomic flavors, “Sabores” throughout the four core sections of the event. These include:

  • Gastronomic tastings: San Cristobal, Ensenada and Paducah will perform a representative cultural-gastronomic tasting of each of their cities, having their best chefs as the head of the event and their best artists accompanying and entertaining the moment.
  • Expo-fair: An artisanal and gastronomic showcase of producers, business people and local, national and international entrepreneurs that will help expose their products to the world and achieve business alliances.
  • Thematic reunion of Creative Cities: The cities will discuss mutual cooperation strategies and platforms for the strengthening of commercial and economical networks for craft and folk art and also explore the ways to collaborate transversally with gastronomy.
  • Cultural exchange: At all moments, this event will be filled with local and foreign cultural displays to make this a forum that will help the understanding of cultural diversity and also to promote peace.

The Paducah CVB is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) of Paducah McCracken County. The CVB exists to create new economic opportunities through destination marketing, management and tourism development. For more information, visit www.Paducah.Travel.