Festivals & Sagre

Life in Abruzzo Abruzzo Cherry-Picked; the Holiday & Lifestyle Guide to Italy's Rocky Heart

Navelli – Il Palio degli Ass’

Navelli has a new found growing fame as host to an alternative Palio; the colourful Palio degli Asini –yep a unmissable Donkey Race like no other in the world

Barisciano, San Giovanni & Great Nuts of Fire

June 24 is when Ancient Rome celebrated the solstice & St John the Baptist’s birthday, it’s also the night for nuts, in more ways than one... esp in Barisciano

Hope Springs Maternal – Sulmona’s La Madonna che Scappa

It’s difficult not to feel that Sulmona’s Easter re-enactment of ‘La Madonna che Scappa’ symbolises Spring throwing off the dark winter months

Good Friday Chieti Abruzzo – La processione del Venerdì Santo

I felt compelled to visit Chieti’s La processione del Venerdì Santo after a friend said how it'd make the hairs on my neck stand up - a new Fri night experience

Counting Gappy Smiles at Carnevale d’Abruzzo

Francavilla al Mare’s Carnevale d’Abruzzo had but 5 tractor-pulled floats but for sheer numbers of gappy smiles it shone like there is no tomorrow

Tongue-Tired Huskies & 6km Sled Dog Races Come to L’Aquila

Dog-sled is not something I’d imagine I’d be a spectator to, but then Abruzzo throws up all sorts of unexpected surprises as ‘alternative’ days out

Win Tickets for Abruzzo’s Donne in Jazz Festival

We have 1 pair of tickets to give away for Abruzzo’s Donne in Jazz festival for one lucky couple who are jazz fans

Everyone’s An a Tony – The Story of St Anthony Abbot

Listen to a TV or Radio show with an Italian in it and you’d almost be surprised if he wasn’t called Tony, but do you know why or about Saint Anthony Abbot

Win Tickets to Get Down with the Girls at Abruzzo’s Donne in Jazz

Abruzzo’s perennial flowering as host of a leading Jazz festival grows ever stronger with its 13th annual celebration of female jazz legends this year

Christmas Pleasure, Pain & Portare

For those that wonder how Abruzzo girlies stay so slim, outside there being plenty of hills and mountains to walk up & down, welcome to the skill of portare

A Sanctified House Celebrated in Poggio Umbricchio

Our visit up to Poggio Umbricchio, for their fuoco on the 9 December to celebrate Loreto’s Santa Casa di Loreto, came about from reading On the Spine of Italy

Olive Fatigue Banished by San Vincenzo VR Spicy Olive Oil

It was almost a case of “olived-out” courtesy of the omnipresent olive-based conversations, that is until an olive sagra down in San Vincenzo Valle Roveto!

Polenta Picnic at 1450 masl – Waiting for the Snow Festa

The ‘Waiting for the Snow’ festival up at the Abruzzo ski resort of Prati di Tivo, 1450 masl in the Gran Sasso Mountains, is held by Italy’s 2nd oldest ski club

Halloween & Remembering the Dead in Abruzzo

Halloween, All Saints & Remembering the Dead in Abruzzo

Here in Abruzzo, Italy it's the 1st & 2nd November that celebrates the magic of Autumn & reflects on the past and present familial bond which keeps Italy going

Chasing the Chestnut at Senarica

Needin’ the nuts? We recommend the chestnut (castagne) festa in Senarica di Crognaleto, Abruzzo on the 3rd or 4th weekend of October depending on harvesting

Yo-Yo Cheese Rolling at Gessopalena

Cheese rolling or, to give its Italian name, Gara di Ruzzola, is not the first thing that comes to mind when one talks about Gessopalena

Cherries & Dressing Up at Raiano

Somebody described cherries as beautiful butterflies, you blink and they’re gone, hence Raiano’s seasonal sagra being utterly unique in Abruzzo's sagre calendar

My Big Fat Ferragosto

My big fat Ferragosto isn’t probably what I should be calling this most pleasurable of Italian feast days

Scenting the Truffle at Campovalano’s Sagra

Visiting Abruzzo’s Campovalano Tartufo Sagra is a time to indulge in some olfactory summer truffle loving

The Longest Giro Ride -The Lucera-L’Aquila Tappa

Abruzzesi bicyclists, Giro lovers and admirers of spandex-clad men were out in force to cheer the competitors of Il Giro 2010

Getting Slippy at the Cocullo Snake Festival

Cocullo’s snake festival must win awards for being not just one of Italy’s strangest festivals, but also for being the most multi-cultural

La Befana – One Cool Crone

Thanks to global warming La Befana is going to have to navigate through some strange old weather as she visits the children in Abruzzo to celebrate Epiphany

The Living Nativity of Cerqueto

Cerqueto provided us with an outstanding opportunity to briefly access the true festive spirit, thanks to its awe-inspiring "living nativity"

In love with Tripe – The Villa Maggiore Trippa Fest

Villa Maggiore's Tripe Festival entails 3 days of eating tripe whilst villagers get jiggy to traditional music that seems to have been mixed by Berlusconi

Abruzzo Festival with Medieval Sausages & Beans!

To celebrate the historic event of Lucrezia Borgia's Abruzzo elopment to Castiglione della Valle (aka Castrum Leonis Vallis) an annual August festival is held

An Abruzzo Christmas in Bascianella

For those that do not go to church at home but are planning an Abruzzo Christmas, do try and go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve (Vigilia di Natale) in Italy

Groundhog Christmas Eve Warning

Christmas Eve Menus in Abruzzo do uphold the religious aspect of Christmas with the focus on fish & more fish! Italian culture upholds 'fare bella figura'

Abruzzo’s numerous sagre and festivals means that there is rarely a weekend when you aren’t either celebrating a food, season or Saint through the most delicious and inexpensive food and wines with a little storytelling, folk or line dancing thrown in for good measure.

Don’t worry, you won’t get cold outside at the winter ones, bonfires feature heavily in an Abruzzo celebrations, not just for utilising their glowing embers to make some great bruschetta but which herald back to days gone by and pagan traditions.

These celebrations are no longer just provincial, Abruzzo‘s 4 provinces are now the base for 2 international jazz festivals, a Christmas film festival to mention a few.