The second edition of the Festival of Forest and Forest Fruits organized by the Istria Model Forest was a great success. The “Hit” Festival managed to gather more than two thousand participants of all ages, with a program full of experiences and events linked with the forest and the local community.
The chosen venue for this year's event is the village of Brest, in the mountain area of Cicarija that is the most remote and the lowest inhabited zone of the Istrian Region. All the area traditionally lived from livestock breeding and forestry, but today only few farms have remained and one small enterprise for wood processing. Most of the inhabitants moved to bigger cities and the population is constantly decreasing. The idea for the festival to be right there came from a long-term project of the Istria Model Forest, which is to revive that area with new social, economic and tourist activities.
We asked Ana Fornazar, president of the Istria MF to tell us about the Festival, how it went and the way they work to involve inhabitants and the local community; associations, crafts and a local government. On our website an article and a photo gallery from this incredible day of exchanges and experiences in the forest.
