More than 12,000 people participated this Sunday in the picnic organized by the Paeria de Lleida on the left bank of the canalization, in a multitudinous day that the council linked to the future deployment of the Platges de Lleida project.
The event gathered hundreds of families and visitors in one of the most recognizable spaces on the city's riverfront. During the day, 100 kilos of sausage and 70 kilos of snails were cooked, in a program that combined gastronomy, sport, and leisure activities.
"It was the prelude to the Platges de Lleida project" - Fèlix Larrosa, mayor of Lleida
Impulse at the front of the pipeline
The Platges de Lleida project foresees enabling restoration services and hammocks at street level next to several accesses to the canalization. One of these service stations will be located next to the Camps Elisis, at the beginning of the walkway, within a proposal that reserves this area for ephemeral leisure and sports activities.
The day also served to advance that idea of citizen use of the environment, with the presence of sports proposals and an offer designed to attract family audience in a very busy point of the municipality.
Gastronomy and promotion of the pork sector
The director of Lleida Turisme, Mònica Terrado, assured that twice as many tickets were sold as last year and framed the call within the objective of supporting the pork sector. The gastronomic aspect played a central role throughout the morning and part of the midday.
In that program, the cooking demonstration of pork casserole by the cook from Cervera Gal·la Pipó stood out, within the Lliga del Porc i la Forquilla, one of the activities incorporated into the event.
Sport and participation in the river
The program also included the first edition of the Cursa i Caminada de l"Horta, which expanded the radius of participation beyond the strictly festive space of the picnic and reinforced the presence of outdoor activities.
In the water, the Sícoris Club brought canoeing closer to the attendees with ten boats prepared for initiation tests. Its canoeing delegate, Josep Miralles, explained the approach of the activity.
"People can try a sport that is not always at hand" - Josep Miralles, canoeing delegate of the Sícoris Club
The high attendance consolidated the day as one of the most followed events of the recent festive calendar in Lleida and brought to the forefront the municipal commitment to convert the canalization into a temporary use space linked to leisure, sport, and restoration.