Postira, a small town and municipality on the island of Brač has been organising the unofficial World Olive Picking Championship for the past two years, and in 2019 the third edition of the prestigious competition will be held from the 10th to the 13th of October.
The aim of the event, organised by the Tourist Board and the Postira Agricultural Cooperative, is to promote the lifestyle linked to the olives, olive growing, picking, making olive oil and other connected activities. Last year the competition saw participants from 11 European countries: Slovenia, Hungary, Montenegro, The Netherlands, France, USA, Great Britain, Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Spain and local participants from Croatia (people from Postira and Dol, who are “playing” at home. The list of the participating countries obviously includes some Mediterranean countries, where the tradition in the production of olive oil goes back for centuries, but also there are non-Mediterranean coutries, with no tradition whatsoever.
In 2018 the hosts, Croatian team, won the competition with 67 kilograms of olives picked. The runners-up were the team from Montenegro, and the podium was completed by team Slovenia, to keep everything amongst the neighbors.
The rules of the competition state that the teams are made up of four members (two female and two male pickers), and there are several categories of olive picking in which the teams will face off: the traditional “na sakete” picking method (meaning “on the bags”), as well as the modern picking methods, using shakers and rakes. In addition to the competition itself, workshops, tastings (wine and other kinds!), tours and entertaining will be held.
The competition is one of the many things held on Brač each year after the very intense high-tourist season. After the succesful inaugural edition held last year, the Orienteering Club Maksimir will organize O-BrOČ, the Brač Orienteering Championship, a four-day event expected to bring several hundred nature-lovers and runners to Brač this year (hopefully, to a somewhat nicer weather than last year!)
