The 2012 edition
- Date: 29 Jan 2012
- Location: Valls (Tarragona)
- Edition: 31st Gran Festa de la Calçotada
How the activities were distributed
The call announced activities starting at 10:30. The growers and sauce competitions were concentrated in the Plaça del Blat; In l'Oli they taught how to cook calçots. At one o'clock the public tasting, divided between l'Oli and La Zeta, and the eating contest at El Pati coincided.
The parade brought together music, giant figures, capgrossos with oversized heads, carriages and riders. The programme combined this atmosphere with markets and an outdoor meal, with grills available for meat and sausages after the calçots. Visitors were also invited to explore Valls' sights and exhibitions.
Documentation: Cambra de Valls: call for the Gran Festa 2012
The names of the 2012 contests
Adrià Wegrzyn won the eating contest with 288 calçots and 2,735 grams, according to the official record. The contemporary photographic archive of Calsots.com also identifies Jaume Solé as the producer winner and Pilar Galera as the sauce winner.
That same report attributes to Jaume Papió the prize for the largest mota, with 19 calçots of the IGP. Preserving these other categories expands the memory of the festival: along with the best-known test were those who grew the product and those who prepared its sauce.
Documentation: Organisation: historical record of the calçots eating contest · Calsots.com: photos and results of the Calçotada Festival 2012
A festival that aroused interest outside Catalonia
The EFE report included the presence of Japanese visitors and a team from The Daily Telegraph. They are testimonies of the international dissemination of that edition, without the need to convert the public expectations announced then into a definitive attendance figure.
The 2012 archive thus combines three pieces: the official call, the results and the testimonies published later. Each one provides different information to remember the day.
Documentation: EFE / El País: Japanese in the calçotada of Valls
A look at the 2012 programme
Selection of documented activities from that edition.
Start of the activities of the Great Festival
Streets and squares of Valls
27th Calçots Eating Contest
El Pati
Popular tasting
Oli and Zeta squares
Explore more of the festival
Learn about the calçots eating contest and check its record →
Check the next edition of 2027 and discover the calçotada restaurants from Valls and Alt Camp.
Sources and documentation
- Cambra de Valls: call for the Gran Festa 2012 ↗
- Organisation: historical record of the calçots eating contest ↗
- Calsots.com: photos and results of the Calçotada Festival 2012 ↗
- EFE / El País: Japanese in the calçotada of Valls ↗
Information reviewed on 22 October 2026.