Clockwise from top: Giostra del Saracino feast, Arezzo; Festa della Vara at Randazzo, Sicily; Battle of the Oranges in Ivrea, Piedmont; Feast of Street Painters in Le Grazie, Mantua, Lombardy; Palio di Asti, Piedmont.

Clockwise from top: Giostra del Saracino feast, Arezzo; Festa della Vara at Randazzo, Sicily; Battle of the Oranges in Ivrea, Piedmont; Feast of Street Painters in Le Grazie, Mantua, Lombardy; Palio di Asti, Piedmont.

Ferragosto – the Assumption of the Virgin – on 15 August is the most important Italian summer festival. The traditional way to spend the day is to go to the pasticceriain the morning and buy lots of fresh cakes and pastries, then go to the beach until lunch. Restaurants have special ferragostomenus and get very crowded – be sure to book in advance – and spectacular firework displays are held in the evening. Ferragostomay be the highlight, but the whole of summer is party time in Italy, with festas, fireworks, parades, tournaments, music and sagras. Wherever you travel in the country, look out for posters advertising festas. These local festivals are often dedicated to a patron saint and they can last several days, with at least one Mass and a parade; like ferragosto, they are always rounded off with fantastic firework displays. Sagras, on the other hand, usually feature a local food speciality – goose, lemons, ice cream, cakes or even polenta. There will be days of feasting on the regional delicacy – tables are set out in the open, you buy a ticket

Camogli, near Genoa, where, after a nocturnal Mass, the cliffs are illuminated and scuba divers descend to a statue of Christ lying on the seabed (July). At Grado, north of Venice, on 11 July, a statue of the Virgin Mary is taken by boat to the island of Barbana, where it is greeted with suitable ceremony before returning to Grado.

CEREMONY IN SIENA Festivals that aren’t religious are often medieval: an entire community will turn out dressed in medieval costumes to take part in some ancient sport. The most famous festaof this kind is the world-renowned Siena Palio, held twice a year on July 2 and August 16, and based on Siena’s 17 contradas(districts). In preparation for the Palio, the authorities cover Siena’s Campo – its handsome, shell-shaped square – in earth to form a racetrack around which ten of 17 contradas race on horseback (the rules are rather complicated). Siena gets packed out for the race: 33,000 seats sell out and another 28,000 people stand to watch the spectacle, many of them in

the centre of the Campo, where the horses gallop around them. First, though, there is a magnificent parade with flag throwing and drums, then the race starts: three times around the square and the winner is the first horse to finish – with or without a jockey! The Sienese are fiercely proud of the contradathey were born in. The jubilation of the victorious contrada and the devastation and despair of the losers, as well as the brilliant colours of the Palio itself, are quite unlike anything I’ve experienced. Less well known are the celebrations in Florence on 24 June for their patron saint – St John the Baptist, or San Giovanni. Everything closes until the Calcio Fiorentinokicks off – a medieval football match played in costumes with very few rules. This takes place in front of Santa Croce. For one day only, the Piazza becomes a football pitch surrounded by high stands – as high as the 1966 flood reached. Finally, in the evening, the streets fill with elegantly dressed Florentines who assemble to watch the magnificent firework displays along the Arno.

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An entire community will turn out dressed in medieval costumes to take part in some ancient sport.

at the entrance, sit down and are served innumerable dishes with an endless flow of wine. Sagrasare fun and a bargain, and with luck will end in lively accordion (fisarmonica)music and dancing. Each festival is unique and every village or town believes passionately that theirs is the best, whether it is the Puppet Festival at the end of August in Gorizia, north of Trieste, Ancona’s July Festival of Musica Klexmer devoted to Jewish music and culture, or a Buskers’ Festival in Ferrara, also at the end of August. The variety and diversity is enormous. Who would have thought that Sacile, near Pordenone in the north, has been holding a Bird Festival since the 13th century that includes a competition for the best bird-song imitation? (First Sunday after ferragosto.) Festivals involving the sea are held in towns including

Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore, Agrigento, Sicily.

Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore, Agrigento, Sicily.

All photography © Cubo Im ages

June 2006 ITALIA! 61