Xylofagou prepares for ‘big international potato’ festival

Clear your calendars as the ‘Xylofagou Big Potato International Festival’ – yes, you heard that right: international – promises “many, many surprises”.

The community’s “grand event” is to take place on September 7-8 with a tantalising mention of the Guinness World Records.

Can the four-metre-tall ‘Big Potato’, erected in 2021, get any bigger?

Or perhaps they’re aiming for another record – they’re keeping it secret, for now – as they have promised a wide range of recipes and takes on potato dishes.

The community last year said Xylofagou will attempt to enter the Guinness book of records by frying the largest portion of chips in the world, about 800 kilogrammes’ worth.

The village festival is also set to host musicians from Cyprus, Greece, and other countries to celebrate its local product.

All jokes aside, however, the organisers have also promised that the festival will feature local farmers and agriculture experts who will educate those interested in their trade.

The potato is a replica depicting the community’s trademark product of the ‘spunta’ variety.

The fiberglass sculpture cost €8,000 to design, manufacture and install.

The potato went viral in 2021 after photographs from puzzled passers-by circulated Cypriot social media. It has since gained international attention, with the community leader saying he has been inundated with phone calls from both Cyprus and abroad.

The community leader added that he was inspired to create the Big Potato, as it has been named, after seeing Belfast’s Big Fish monument.

It wasn’t long however until others sought to make their mark on the Big Potato, with football hooligans vandalising the sculpture just weeks after it was first erected.

The village offered a reward of €500 was offered for their capture, but the vandals were never brought to justice.