Caracas.- A group of motorcyclists celebrated
World Arepa Day this Saturday, the dish most eaten in Venezuela, with the goal of preparing about 20,000 and distributing them in different parts of Caracas, according to the organizer, who identified herself as Mari Love, 54 years old, told EFE.
“These arepas are aimed at hospitals, nursing homes, shelters, very vulnerable communities, but also (to people in) street situations. We try to reach every vulnerable point,” said Love, who called the event ‘World Arepa Day on wheels’.
Everything started this Friday with the preparation of stews for the arepa filling and this Saturday, at 05:00 local time (9:00 GMT), they were already lighting stoves and ovens for this task, in which more than 2,000 people participate, counting the people who transport the food, according to Mari Love.
In the kitchen,
around 80 people are working, who make about 80 arepas per hour and handle hundreds of kilos of food to prepare fillings of meat, cheese, sausage, mortadella, and others.
In parallel, groups of motorcyclists and individuals in automobiles from different parts of Caracas and nearby states, such as La Guaira (north), come with coolers, suitcases, or boxes to collect the arepas and distribute them.
“It’s not just bikers who are united here, there are also companies involved who come to make arepas, who are part of this as sponsors and also collaborators,” said the organizer.
The project started three years ago, when she and a chef friend planned to prepare 2,000 arepas, but, she assured, almost double that amount were made that time. In 2024 they estimated 5,000 and prepared around 8,000, said Mari Love.
However, he clarified that last year’s figure could be higher, around 15,000 arepas, if the preparation in other states is counted, from where other collaborators asked to replicate the project ‘World Arepa Day on wheels’.
By 2026, Mari Love’s partners want to prepare 50,000 arepas in Caracas.
“I look at them and say: hey, wait a minute. That’s a lot of work. I’ve been working on this event for over four months,” she warned.
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The
Venezuelan arepa qualified for the final of the Breakfast World Cup, in which 16 countries participated and was organized by the Spanish ‘streamer’ Ibai Llanos. The Venezuelan dish lost this Saturday to the Peruvian chicharrón bread.
In November of last year, Venezuela requested before the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) that the arepa be declared an intangible heritage of humanity.
The Government anticipates a response from Unesco regarding this nomination for the year 2027.
The arepa has a World Day since 2012, which is celebrated on the second Saturday of September each year, with the aim of promoting the integration of Venezuelans abroad and the discussion around their cultures and traditions.
