Mackerel festival should celebrate cabbage instead, say animal rights activists
Animal rights group PETA has requested that the town of Aberaeron replace its traditional mackerel festival with a 'cabbage fiesta' to promote animal welfare. Local officials have rejected the proposal, citing the fishing festival's deep roots in the town's cultural heritage.
Why it matters
This story illustrates the ongoing cultural friction between modern animal rights activism and traditional community customs.
Image caption, The Aberaeron Mackerel Festival takes place in August to mark the end of the fishing season
Animal rights activists want a small seaside town to change its annual mackerel festival to celebrate the humble cabbage instead.
At the end of the fishing season in Aberaeron, the Ceredigion town hosts a mackerel fiesta, described as "a light-hearted funeral" dedicated to the fast-swimming fish.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) wants the popular event to be an "animal-friendly" and "kinder" cabbage fiesta instead.
In response, councillor Elizabeth Evans said fishing was "part of our heritage in Aberaeron", while the "growing of cabbages is not".
During the celebration, a large papier mache mackerel is carried by bearers through the town over to the yacht club, before it is blessed and then burned at sunset.
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