As Italy starts to thaw out from the bitter winter months and the spring awakening begins, the city of Agrigento hosts Sicily’s most famous folkloristic event: the Almond Blossom Festival. Founded in 1934, this longstanding tradition is repeated every year at the beginning of February and lasts for a week; this year, it runs from March 3 to 11.

During this time, the Sicilian countryside is peppered with delicate pink-white almond blossoms, and Agrigento’s famous Valley of the Temples - housing five ancient temples of World Heritage status - offers a spectacular panorama. Known in Italian as the Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore, the festival celebrates the coming of spring and the return of life, represented by the blossoming of the almond trees.