On Saturday, nearly 40 vendors came to Kasepää for the smelt festival. Although the smelt catch is modest this year, the fish sold well. Anatoli, who runs a family business, said that getting smelt requires work and hope.
Anatoli added that at the beginning of this year, the catch was good, but now the weather is bad and the catches are small. He said: "Smelt is still out there, moving somewhere. You just have to work hard and then hope is the last thing to disappear."
The price of smelt is higher this year at the market. The organizer of the smelt festival, Triinu Akkermann, said that smelt has become more expensive. She said: "Seven years ago, there was more smelt and the price was low. Now smelt is truly a goldfish in terms of price."
Visitors highly valued smelt. Eve, who attended the festival, said: "This is the fish of my hometown from my childhood. It is very good."
Vendor Julia said that the most purchased items are cleaned and cooked smelt. The festival also provided inspiration for preparing smelt. Olde Hansa head chef Emmanuel Wille said: "The best way is to fry the whole fish with bones and insides. This fish is fatty and tastes great on the grill with garlic and tomato."
Usually, the festival marks the end of the smelt season, but this year smelt can still be caught in Lake Peipus until August 21.