The international culinary event comes to the Azure capital for the first time from June 22 to 25. This festival aims to be inclusive and committed.
Cuisine as a tool for professional and social integration combined with a moment of celebration and sharing is the idea behind the Refugee Food Festival. Each year, around June 20, World Refugee Day, this shared moment takes place in about ten cities in France and Europe.
For the 2023 edition, 13 cities in France and Switzerland are participating, including Nice. Five to eight establishments in food service and Azure crafts will be part of it. We will have to wait until early May to know the names of the participating Azure restaurants and craft establishments.
Gather Around the Table
For four days, establishments ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to neighborhood cafeterias offer a menu crafted by their chef in collaboration with a refugee cook. In a similar spirit, artisans, whether bakers or pastry chefs, can participate in the festival. “These duos, as inspiring as they are inspired, will make the people of Nice drool and savor in the most committed way possible,” promises the festival.
It’s a unique opportunity for a special moment of sharing and exchange between professionals and food enthusiasts. For customers, it’s a chance to discover cuisine with flavors from afar, prepared with generosity. Since its creation in 2016, 400 restaurants have mobilized, 341 refugees from 56 different nationalities have participated for nearly 60,000 people who came to savor.
Committed to Living Together and Against Xenophobia
The festival takes place in a geopolitical context that fuels debates and questions about the fate of refugees. While 2023 is marked by the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the consequences of the deadly earthquake at the Turkey-Syria border, the organizers lament: “an increase in xenophobia and hate speech, sorely testing social bonds and communal living.”
This is why the festival aims to inform, raise awareness, and fight against prejudices and stereotypes circulating about exiled people in public debate as much as in private spheres. “The Refugee Food Festival will more than ever strive to bring people together and unite around cuisine, convinced that sitting down for a meal is the prelude to the idea of a cohesive society,” it concludes.
