Next Sunday will see the village of Qrendi hosting the second edition of the Potato and Agrarian Festival at Ġnien tal-Warda, one of the locality’s historical and beautiful gardens.

On show throughout the day will be the different potato varieties, agricultural equipment and machinery used in the harvesting and exportation of potatoes, as well as food stalls serving potato-based gourmet dishes and other culinary delights as well as the increasingly popular potato ice cream.

Local singers and performers who will be entertaining guests will include Gianluca Bezzina, Dorothy Bezzina, Hooligan and Red Electrick. There will be entertainment for children, while vintage cars belonging to members of the Old Motors Club will also be on display.

Qrendi’s agricultural heritage is intrinsically linked with this important vegetable, as it was here that the first experiments with various different potato seeds were carried out by the Maltese government at Il-Ġnien tal-Kmandant, a garden built during the time of Sir Alexander John Ball, Malta’s British Governor General.

This successful experimentation changed the agriculture industry in Malta which had hitherto been geared solely towards the cotton industry.

The potato yields abundantly within the fields in and around Qrendi and where some of Malta’s major potato producers and exporters are located.

Production of potatoes is fast growing and exports which, up to a few years ago only included the Netherlands, have now also diversified to the UK, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland.

The festival, organised by Qrendi local council in collaboration with the Ministry for Tourism and the Malta Tourism Authority, will be held at Dame Cecilia Pick Garden, kicking off at 9am.