Close

Every year in September the "Palio (contest) di Asti" is run: the oldest in Italy, it is an ancient tradition from the eight century, a real festival, which has kept unchanged its distinctive traits, qualities that have helped to make it a unique performance. The charm of the medieval history lives through the town districts and its places, includi...

19

They were originally called feriae Augusti, or "the rest of Augustus" (as the Roman emperor), and are a millenary history custom. They were to indicate those holidays established in the year 8 BC by the first Roman emperor in history to celebrate the end of the main works of the agricultural season and thus constitute a period of rest able to resto...

93

According to a consolidated oral tradition, the ballad "Cardoleda", a variant of the more famous "viddhaneddha" from Reggio Calabria, would testify derivations from the ancient culture of Magna Graecia quite present in the Greek area of the Aspromonte hinterland. Therefore, "a Cardoleda" could have origins to be found in the distant roots of the Gr...

212

The "Dama Castellana", one of the most important historical Italian events, evokes an important Renaissance battle that took place in the second half of 1200 between Conegliano and Treviso. The Living Checkers commemorates the battle where the soldiers from Conegliano, victorious in the dispute, forced the enemies to bring them on their shoulders,...

197

This tradition dates back to 1371 and is held during the celebrations in honor of the patron. On the eve of the race a great costume parade winds through the streets. In the town of Narni, Umbria, takes place every year between the last week of April and the second Sunday of May the re-enactment of an ancient tradition that originated in the fourte...

229

There is no doubt that religious festivals represent a large part of the traditional Italian heritage. An expression of faith, of course, but also events with a strong social significance and bond of belonging to the community, especially in the South: Leonardo Sciascia, in "Corda Pazza" (Mad rope), about religious festivals wrote that in Sicily th...

354

On Easter Sunday, from dawn, the town of Prizzi undergoes a metamorphosis: the inhabitants are awakened by groups of children who knock on their doors. Everyone of these kids is wearing a red dress (the devils) except one who is wearing a yellow ocher one (death). These entities, which roam up and down the streets waving the chains, ask relatives,...

418

Are you sure you know everything about Carnival in Italy? We will help you with an excursus that goes from the origins, through the typical masks and sweets of the Italian carnival tradition, up to the indication of the most beautiful carnivals in Italy. The origins of Carnival in Italy and beyond are closely linked to religious culture, as they ar...

448

In recent years we are seeing in Italy a continuous intensification of "ethnic tourism", folk festivals and historical re-enactments, religious rituals, patronal festivals, ethno-gastronomic events and carnivals have taken on great interest in the public, so as to spread the phenomenon of direct observation of travelers outside the manifestations o...

427

The Arena of Verona is home to a selection of the most beautiful nativity scenes in the world, and works of art inspired by the theme of the Nativity. For the thirty-fifth consecutive year the Arena di Verona is home to the International Festival of the Nativity, a unique event with no competitors in the world.

442