September Events in UMBRIA
International Festival of Chamber Music
Date:
throughout August and September
Where:Citta di Castello
Performances every week in various indoor and outdoor locations around the town.
Web Link:www.argoweb.it/tifernate/tifernate.uk.html
Antiques and Flea Market
Date:first weekend of the month
Where:Arezzo
An antiques and flea market is held in the main piazza
Festa dell'Uva (Wine Festival)
Date:the second week of September
Where:San Elena di Marsciano
The Festa dell'Uva reputed to be the first wine festival in Italy. This weeklong celebration draws thousands of wine enthusiasts and is worth a visit.
Web Link:www.festadelluva.com/
Antiques and Flea Market
Date:every second Sunday of the month
Where:Todi
An antiques and flea market is held in the Piazza del Popolo
Antiques and Flea Market
Date:every second Sunday of the month
Where:Spoleto
An antiques and flea market is held in the Piazza del Mercato
Antiques and Flea Market
Date:second weekend of the month with an annual fair in the spring
Where:Assisi
An antiques and flea market is held in the main piazza
Festa del Ottocento
Date:mid September, dates shift
Where:Umbertide
Umbertide's fall festival celebrates art, folklore, and sport. Local crafts and wares are displayed and the citizenry dress in costumes from the 1800s that have been designed and built by local women.
Web Link:www.argoweb.it/umbertide/umbertide.uk.html
Umbria's Holy Musical Festival
Date:mid-September
Where:Perugia and other towns
This international holy music festival features a high artistic standard and some of the world's best musical groups performing in the region's most beautiful churches.
Antique Furniture Market
Date:third weekend of the month, with an annual fair at the end of August
Where:Cortona
An antiques and furniture is held in the main piazza
Antiques Market
Date:third weekend of the month
Where:Citta di Castello
An antiques and flea market is held in the main piazza
Antiques and Flea Market
Date:every second Sunday of the month
Where:Todi
An antiques and flea market is held in the Piazza del Popolo
The Giostra della Quintana
Date:2nd and 3rd Sunday nights of September
Where:Foligno
The Giostra della Quintana is an equestrian competition in which ten knights in suits of armor, representing the districts, have to spear rings while charging with lances. The rings have a decreasing diameter and are put on the outstretched arm of a 17th century wooden statue, namely 'la quintana'. The competition can reach a maximum of three rounds, each consisting of three strokes. At the end, the knight with the shortest time and least penalties wins the Palio. This is a historical and folk reconstruction of a 17th century tournament (in particular the 1613 Carnival tournament) with more than 500 participants in period costumes. The joust, however, is only a small part of the month-long Baroque Festival that runs from the end of August to the beginning of October. Theatrical performances and concerts of Baroque music and dance are scheduled throughout the month and traditional food is served at picturesque taverns and stands. The Palio culminates in a nighttime parade.
Web Link:www.cline.it/mn/quintana/
Web Link:www.umbria.org/Eventi/eng/evento.asp?id=10
Web Link:www.feditgiochistorici.it/efoligno.html
Giostra dell'Arme (Jousting tournament)
Date:the last Sunday in September
Where:San Gemini
The Giostra dell'Arme is an authentic reenactment of the ancient sport, where three riders from each of the two opposing neighborhoods (Piazza and Rocca) compete against each other. Each rider's principle task is to jab a tiny ring onto his lance while riding at a full gallop, and then throw it against the "Arme" (a noble coat-of-arms-shaped target subdivided into different sectors which, according to their shape and color, give the thrower a different score). This is a hard task, but the accompaniment of music, food and wine makes all the hard game playing worthwhile.
Web Link:www.feditgiochistorici.it/esangemin.html
Vendemmia - (Grape Harvest)
Date:Late September, varies due to weather and the harvest...
Where:throughout the wine growing regions of Italy
During this time, winegrowers from Lecce to Trento are finishing up the vendemmia, the culmination of an entire year's work. The grape harvest remains an important part of Italian culture, dating as far back as the discovery of wine itself. (Visit the wine museum in Torgiano for some history) From small families making only enough wine to last the year, to the giants of the industry, the vendemmia is the moment to celebrate a bountiful crop or lament a year's worth of work gone down the drain. This harvest tradition began to take shape during the Roman Empire. In those days it was celebrated on August 19th, about a month before the harvest, when villagers would celebrate the Vinalia, a day of tribute to the god of Jupiter, by sacrificing a female lamb. Nowadays the event involves everyone, from women clad in bandannas and aprons, to their children. The slippery, squishy sensation of grapes between the toes is the reward after months of tilling, fertilizing, watching and waiting. Traffic slows due to the high number of tractor-pulled wagons laden with grapes, but no one seems to mind.
Web Link:www.movimentoturismovino.it/benvenuta_vendemmia.php
Donkey Palio
Date:the fourth weekend of September
Where:Gualdo Tadino
A race of donkeys is the highlight of this festival in the medieval town of Gualdo Tadino. Another feature is the historical costume pageant and contests among archers and marksmen using slingshots. Harnessed to chariots, the donkeys are supposed to clop at maximum speed through the town but their unpredictability and the unevenness of the cobblestone streets combine to make the race a suspense-filled event.
Web Link:www.giubileo-italy.net/turismo/Umbria/Comprensorio_Eugubino_calendario_manif98.htm
Garden Tours for European Heritage Day
Date:the fourth Sunday of September
Where:throughout Italy
During event, inaugurated by the European Union, many secret gardens and private courtyards (some secret, others well-known) are opened to the public for the weekend. A few examples:
1. The Doganella di Ninfa, near Rome - 2,000 square meters of private paradise - a bizarre weave of the exotic and the realistic creating a medieval setting begun at the beginning of the century. It can be visited by making reservations at 06-58432356.
2. Bisentina, an island in a lake in the province of Viterbo, which was used by a 16th-century Pope for meditation. Bisenta offers tours of designer gardens that take a day to visit completely. The tour is free but the boat ride costs £8,000.
3. In Palermo, the 18th-century Trabia Campofioriti.
4. The Cigogna Mozzoni villa near Varese. In the 15th-century, the Cigogna Mozzoni villa was used as a lodge to hunt bears (which used to roam freely in Lombardy). It has been converted into seven-layers of gardens full of statues, fountains and archways.
5. Other highlights include the Borromeo dynasty's villa in Milan, special gardens in Abruzzo and Manoppello, and These are but only a few examples of the many sequestered gardens that open their doors during this special weekend.
Web Link:culture.coe.fr/jep/eng/archives1999/eprogramme99.htm#Italy
Humorfest
Date:the last Saturday of September
Where:Foligno
A celebration dedicated to those who make us laugh, drawing almost 400 cartoonists and humorists from all over the world (including China, Bolivia, Cuba, Mongolia, the USA among the 30 nations represented). The organizers are trying to create an International Center of Humor that would centralize the humoristic expression of different cultures and languages. The 10th edition of the festival presented 808 works and the 'theme' of this year's laugh-off is the 'Jubilee 2000' (New Year's Eve 2000).
Web Link:www.comune.foligno.pg.it/cultura/humourfest.htm
Festival of First Course Dishes
Date:the fourth Sunday of September
Where:Foligno
The gathering of chefs that descend of this town could make even the most sophisticated of palates water. In 1999, a team of 28 chefs whipped up what they say is the world's largest 'gnocco' measuring 3.5 meters long, 16 centimeters thick and 33 centimeters wide. The cooks spent 50 minutes and used 250 kilograms of red potatoes from nearby Colfiorito to put the record concoction together. Orchestrating the effort was Gianfranco Vissani, Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema's favorite chef.
Festival of Saint Michele Arcangelo
Date:September 29th
Where:Bastia Umbra
This Festival in honor of the Bastia Umbra's patron, Saint Michele Arcangelo, features contests between the neighborhoods and local foods.
