In a barn-like marquee in Italy, diners of a rice festival sit at dozens of long wooden tables. They are laden with carafes of wine and plastic plates piled high with colourful risotto dishes: pumpkin and sausage, Amarone wine and mushrooms and truffle.

This is one of the hundreds of sagre that take place up and down the country, especially in autumn. These food festivals celebrate a local produce or dish, from chestnuts to snails, and offer diners some of the region's most authentic dishes.