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| Pisa San Ranieri festival illumination draws crowds |
If you are planning a summer
stay in one of Italy’s beautiful mid-size towns be sure to check the dates of the local summer festival
before booking your flight and accommodations. Many
historic Italian towns celebrate summer with
festivals that draw large crowds
such as Pisa’s Luminara di San Ranieri and Gioco del Ponte which
have been celebrated in mid June for
hundreds of years.
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| the tower of Pisa by night |
Other towns
like Montefiascone and Vignanello have invented festivals or sagre celebrating
local wine and local food stars at the Cene
in Cantina in my hometown, Vetralla.
Along with providing entertainment,
these festivals produce a
great amount of confusion
annihilating the usual lifestyle of historic towns.
The younger crowd looking for lots of action may enjoy the added buzz of a summer festival, but if you prefer more traditional, slower paced living and genuine Italian
lifestyle, organize your holiday stay before or after the festival or book a place distant
from the festival venue in order to enjoy
the festivities and also get a good night’s sleep.
Italian towns cannot compete with the
night life of Ibiza or Mykonos yet Vetralla’s Cene in
Cantina festival boasted 4 nights of
rock music blasted by
powerful speakers and a strange,
sweet "perfume" wafted through the air from 11 p.m. until well after 2 a.m.
In Viterbo the pseudo-cultural Caffeina Festival’s ten
evenings of happenings boasted many food stands cooking up fried foods and selling
alcoholic drinks in medieval piazzas
where local restaurants regularly close
down.
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| circus or cultural festival? |
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| contrasting with the medieval architecture |
As tourists walked through Europe’s best preserved medieval
quarter San Pellegrino, they wondered: What
do energy drinks and mojito have to do
with medieval Italy?
The lower prices and commercial (junk) food served
at the 10-day festival creates a lot of competition with permanent restaurants offering quality local
fare.. and what about the health safeguards?
During a street-side show cooking, a chef was coughing directly onto the
food being prepared.
This year
the organizers of the Viterbo festival, perhaps sensing their future demise, decided to milk the city’s major volunteer and cultural associations.
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| Archeotuscia presents in Cortile dell'Abate |
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| on the far right, Caffeina staff take "donations" |
Archeotuscia with its 500+ members was given time
and space on the festival calendar to
publicize their association, but in
order to enter the piazza where the
presentation was being held everyone,
including members, was asked to “donate”
3.50 euro to Caffeina’s organizers.
A mammoth book
stall set up in the main piazza seemed
to be a sign of culture: but after scouring the tables loaded with books and interviewing a volunteer (one of 250 who receive only a free meal and T shirt) I
realized there was a complete absence of books, authors and publications
from and about the Viterbo/Tuscia area.
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| book tent at Caffeina |
There are a smattering of local authors presenting their latest books during the quiet dinner hours, and hopefully the audience will not mind paying a ticket
to attend.
It was a surprise to see an
entire stand dedicated to Gabriele D’Annunzio’s
Vittoriale located on Lake Garda in northern Italy. This was done to thank a commercial writer whose books have been presented numerous times
at the Festival.
The city's older
residents, families and sleep deprived working people become prisoners of these summer festivals for they have little access to their neighborhoods and can be seen schlepping their groceries from distant parking areas.
Local tourism
operators, restaurants, B&Bs and artisans who keep the historic center (especially San Pellegrino ) alive all through the year are not happy with the
filth, broken bottles, hooligans and extra garbage produced.
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| San Pellegrino, 8:30 a.m. |
Inhabitants and administrators are beginning to realize that concentrating
large doses of festival/culture/action may not be worth the problems created. This year the discussions concerning these noisy
summer festivals have been rife and the idea of sustainable tourism is now being considered.
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| historic fountain and portapotty |
A set of
guidelines and rules of behavior are
needed to protect the rights of citizens
living in the areas where the festivals are held. Safeguarding
fragile medieval and Renaissance buildings, fountains and piazzas
is another priority.
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| historic fountains masqueraded as plant holders |
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| massive speakers for a tiny piazza |
The architectural monuments that make our towns and cities so special
should not be masked by garish
carnival rides and plastic flowers.
A
summer festival that involves high decibel
music should have a proper container: a stadium, a large outdoor space
or theatre not a
tiny, flower filled piazza which serves as an outdoor living room to its inhabitants.
Read more about this on my previous blog article.
Your comments and shares are appreciated. What are summer festivals like in your area?
