Photo | Flickr

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

If you have a passion for pork meat, you can’t miss the PorchettiAmo, a pork festival which will take place at San Terenziano, Umbria, from 7 to 9 May. All pork-based dishes will be accompanied by superb wine produced in the area around Foligno and Todi. Remember to taste the famous wines of Montefalco! In my opinion it’s the best Umbrian wine I have ever tasted! But the region, besides its exquiste cuisine and superb wine, has plenty to offer; with its old castles and breathtaking landscapes, Umbria is one of Italy’s most beautiful (and fascianting) regions!

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

The Festival dei Laghi Italiani is one of the most captivating festivals for tourists whose passion is the lakes. This will take place on Lake Iseo on June 2. Though somewhat less popular than traditional sea-side destinations, the Italian lakes are second to none when it comes to the beauty of their landscape, cultural traditions and the exquisite flavours of their unique local cuisine which are sure to delight everyone from gourmets to those seeking something new and exciting to try. The event has a truly spectacular program, which includes concerts, exhibitions of local products and food tastings. All the Italian regions, from Piedmont to Sicily will be present at the lake festival, so, whatever you plan, don’t leave this off your agenda.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

Whenever you think of a place where the air is literally filled with sweet fragrances and smells, the first name that comes to mind is the Giardino di Boboli in Florence. For the Fifth time - from 6th to May 9th - Italy’s best perfumers will gather at the famous Garden (the Orto and Serra Botanica) to put on show and sale their most exclusive creations, including essential oils, soap, cosmetic products, herbal extracts, flowers and plants which will turn the place into a paradise of exquisite scents (the last edition of I Profumi di Boboli attracted more than 18,000 visitors!)

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

The town of Terranuova Bracciolini in the province of Arezzo will be busy again in May with a local bean and cheese festival taking place. Tuscany is the place to be for Italian food festivals and in the past the town has also hosted a strawberry festival. Whether you’re a fan of Tuscan regional cuisine and legumes or not, you can still enjoy the beautiful landscape spotted with towers and medieval castles.

In addition to enjoying the local Italian cheese available at this ’sagra’, you can also visit some of the 16th century artworks and frescoes in the town, stopping by the church of the Madonna delle Grazie to see works by Francesco d’Antonino. For more information on the town, see the Terranuova Bracciolini council website.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

After the awful earthquake which hit the Abruzzo region in April 2009, there are now signs of recovering and the most interesting ones come straight from the world of art. In fact from 6 April an important event dedicated to contemporary art will take place in L’Aquila; an event which will involve both young local artists and well known figures of the art world here in Italy. The curator Pier Luigi Sacco and the artist Mario Airò have meaningfully chosen April 6th to inaugurate the exhibition which, among other things, will highlight the artists’ thoughts and reflections on the disastrous quake which brought the city to its knees. The exhibition called “ Replace” (which is part of the project Il buio è singolare, le luci (anche) plurali Airò) is the fruit of a collaboration with the Academy Of Fine Arts in L‘Aquila; the illuminated installations and artworks on display will focus not only on the open wounds of the city and its altered landscape but also upon the future which is just waiting around the corner.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

A spectacular exhibition dedicated to Italian film director Federico Fellini has been unveiled in Bologna, Emilia Romagna’s key city (Federico Fellini was born just a few miles way). Dall’ Italia alla Luna or From Italy to the Moon, is the name of the exhibition which attracted visitor numbers in excess of 450,000 in Paris. It will run in Bologna until 25 April. Sam Stourdze, exhibition curator, explains that it took four years to create and organise and whilst it is not in chronological order the Maestro would have loved it this way. There’s without doubt an educational aspect to the project since it draws upon famous movie scenes, oneiric drawings and other important and relevant material. It is designed to take the visitors on a fantastic journey into Federico Fellinì’s innermost imaginings; from circus performances and commercials to a world full of fantasy and dreams! The public will also have the unique opportunity to see Federico Fellini’s illustrated diary ” Libro dei Sogni” (400 pages) comprising of all the drawings which, following the advice of his psychoanalyst Ernst Bernhard, he created from 1960 to 1982.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

Umbria Wine Festival is one of the most important wine festivals here in Italy which will take place in Perugia from 4 to 25 April. Born from a collaboration with the University of Perugia (Faculty of Agriculture), this event will take place in the beautiful cloister of Saint Peter which houses the Faculty of Agriculture. Visitors will not only have the opportunity to taste the best wines from the region but also judge their quality. Local winemakers will share their expertise and lore with the public, taking them on a fascinating journey through the history of winemaking in the Umbria region. This year the spotlight will be cast on Passito (a variety of wine produced from raisins and semi-dried grapes) and other meditation wines which, among other things, are also the interesting subject of a course you can take at the faculty of agriculture!

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

If you have a passion for kites, you can’t afford to miss the event Ventomania 2010 which will take place in the enchanting town of Gubbio on March 21 when in the park of The Teatro Romano thousands of colourful kites will fight among each other to reach higher and higher. The day will officially start at 9:30 when participants from all over the country will gather at the park with kites of different shapes and colours; the kite-flying will last until sundown.

A fantastic way to celebrate the first day of spring! Actually the event started on March 12 with the inauguration of an exhibition entirely devoted to kites and the beauty they create! The exhibition can be still visited at the Taverna dei Capitani.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments

The town of Carpegna, in Pesaro and Urbino, in the region of the Marche, celebrates its “Sega la Vecchia” Italian sagra in the form of the town sports festival every year. The four parishes of the town get together for a traditional meet, challenging each other in games, followed by a huge country banquet. The whole festival takes place on March 27 and involves sack races, hoop races, tug-of-war for both men and women, wood sawing, sled racing, and other old fashioned games.

At the end of the of this Italian festival, the team who wins parades through the town with the “vecchia”, meaning old lady - a folkloric statue figure who returns every year for the games - before burning the figurine in the piazza outside the town’s “palazzo”. Afterwards, the mess hall and benches are made available for the post-victory dinner. For more information, see the Carpegna site.

{PLUGIN_TWITTER_SHARE} 0 comments