There, 150 participants offered the best of national and international cuisine from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 December, to celebrate the 490th anniversary of the founding of the 'Carita de Dios'.
The Quito Salt Festival selected the stands by segments such as embassies, prefectures, markets, Tienda Quito plus urban artisans, flea market, rural artisans, craft breweries, barbecue area, traditional food, international cuisine, fast food, seafood, sweets and pastries, ice cream and juices.
Participants included traditional restaurants, Distintivo Q restaurants and huecas, to delight the 294,800 attendees registered during the four days of the fair organized by the Quito Tourism Public Company.
Attendees were able to find everything from classic LP records for sale to crafts for all tastes, and of course, sweets that delighted palates, such as Doña Miche's hornado or Don Raulito's empanadas de viento and morocho.
The variety of food and drinks included chicha de jora, comeibebe, shawarmas, chancho a la Barbosa, the essential tripa mishqui and the traditional encebollado.
The Manabí Prefecture presented its stars, rice with sausage and tonga, while Azuay came to the capital with a fig drake, a signature-recipe spirit drink.
The Uruguayan Embassy presented alfajores and pascualinas, among other delicacies, while Guatemala arrived with pepián, typical of the Central American country. The Russian Embassy was represented by Valeria Rusanova's bread.
The rural atmosphere of Quito was present with panela tea and Perla Negra coffee from the Sabores y Colores del Chocó store.
There were also recreational activities such as penalty kicks (football) and raising Thor's hammer, proposed by the local Beer Kingo.
For its part, stand 151 was occupied by the Museo Templo del Sol (Calacalí), which among other products offered aromatic essences such as bamboo to harmonize the chakras or the combination of lemon verbena and lemon verbena, which is an emotional stabilizer, as explained by the saleswoman Evelyn Ortega.
Among the drinks, consumers could find the Refreshcate stand, whose factory is in Pacto and its premises in Pomasqui, said saleswoman Belén Velasco. One of its most requested products was sugarcane juice, produced at that time.
All this celebration of flavours merged with the Quito Fest, which featured international bands such as the Mexican Molotov, the Argentine Malón, the Colombian Velandia y la Tigra, the Chilean Ana Tijoux, the Ecuadorian Rocola Bacalao or the Dominican Mula, who ignited the public with their intense energy, from Thursday to Saturday.
The musical party continued on Sunday with live performances by the bomba music group Marabú, Grupo Singlar and Los Titos. In addition, the Symphony Orchestra will share the stage with the Colonial Trio, Gustavo Velásquez and Juanita Burbano.
The exhibitors delighted diners with dishes prepared with meat from Rastro Quito, which complies with standardized processes and current health regulations, while for the second consecutive year, merchants from the 23 de Octubre Food Suppliers Association of the Wholesale Market participated.
The Sal Quiteña Festival and the Quito Fest had the inter-institutional support of almost 800 people every day from municipal, governmental and private entities, essentially for the control and monitoring of security, with the unified command post (PMU), located at the Quito Tourism facilities.
Source: Quito Tourism.