The Regional Centre for Handicrafts (CRAA), a body under the administration of the Vice-Presidency of the Government, promotes, for the first time, the Azorean Confectionery Market.

The initiative, titled "Sweet Days," will take place from October 16 to 18 at the Terceira Youth and Art Academy in Praia da Vitória.

In addition to the promotion and sales of Azorean confectionery products, this market also intends to give visibility to liqueurs, honey, tea and some ceramic items that are used in the Azorean regional cuisine.

The event includes a confectionery contest with the aim of raising awareness of the strategic importance of regional products in the context of policies that have been developed by the Government. It also encourages innovation and entrepreneurship as well as the promotion of local produce, namely bananas, which will be highlighted at this Confectionery Market.

The "Sweet Days" also features concerts by local bands and concerts, TI – NOTAS, Diáspora, "Cantigas ao Desafio" (traditional singing challenge) and Velhas, in addition to exhibitions, contests, workshops and cooking shows; the latter will be organised by the Praia da Vitória Vocational Training School and the Ponta Delgada Tourism and Hotel School.

The programme also includes lectures that will address topics on convent and bourgeois confectionery in the Azores, from a research work conducted by Ana Maria Costa, and a nutrition session on sugar by Cláudia Valadão Meneses, nutritionist at the Santo Espírito Hospital on Terceira Island.

Registrations for the confectionery contest and the workshops can be made at the delegation of the Vice-Presidency of the Government at the address Rua Direita, nº 76 in Angra do Heroísmo or by telephone numbers 295 215 134/5 or 910 209 367.

The Azorean Confectionery Market will be open to the public on Friday from 5 PM to 11 PM and on Saturday and Sunday from 2 PM to 11 PM.