D*na Festival to Fill Dénia with Art and Gastronomy

D*na Festival will return to Dénia to celebrate its eighth edition on September 27 and 28, aiming to "fill the city with art and gastronomy." The festival, curated by the three-Michelin-star chef Quique Dacosta, opens its call for exhibitors this Friday, inviting producers, artisans, and restaurateurs to submit their applications by July 15 via the official website.

The event, organized by the Dénia Creative City Foundation of Gastronomy, will highlight this year the kitchen "as an artistic and collective expression, connected with the roots of the territory and its people."

"D*na is a festival that speaks of gastronomy, but also of who we are as a community. It dialogues with the traditions of farming, fishing, agriculture, baking, beekeeping, and milling, all set in the wonderful backdrop of Dénia and its Marineta Cassiana, under the shadow of Montgó and with the sea breeze," explained Dacosta.

This year's edition emphasizes gastronomy as "total art," in dialogue with other disciplines such as music, dance, cinema, literature, or visual arts, which will be part of the festival's artistic journey.

"We also want to pay tribute to everything that surrounds the playful and creative aspects of the fine arts that embrace gastronomy, because cooking is also about storytelling, emotion, and interpretation," stated Dacosta.

Thus, D*na 2025 is envisioned as "a sensory and cultural experience open to all audiences, where local products become creative material and the act of cooking becomes a shared form of art."

In this regard, the chef noted that "from the beginning, this festival has been a way to tell the world, to communicate who we are through the product, the craftsmanship of artisans, and the work of chefs and restaurateurs."

The festival opens its call to producers and makers from the Marina Alta and the Valencian Community who work with respect for the environment and the craft: farmers, fishermen, winemakers, cheesemakers, salters, bakers, beekeepers, or agri-food artisans.

The products will be presented in stalls organized as an artistic promenade, where each ingredient will tell its own story: oils, jams, sausages, wines, fruits, breads, or sweets that reflect the diversity and richness of the Mediterranean culinary landscape.

Hospitality establishments in the region can also join, offering tapas made with local products and inspired by an artistic discipline, available to the public in the festival's tasting spaces.

In this sense, D*na is, in Dacosta's words, "an event that has adapted to the times with resilience and creativity, never ceasing to celebrate, dialogue, and narrate." This year also marks the tenth anniversary of Dénia's recognition as a Creative City of Gastronomy by UNESCO, "a distinction that the festival has helped to highlight and strengthen since its inception," according to the organization.

The program will be completed with lectures, show cookings, and workshops open to the public, where artisans, chefs, and artists will share knowledge and emotions around the art of cooking. In short, "a feast for the senses and for Mediterranean culture."