festivals
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Festa di Primavera in Castiglione
At 11 am we arrive in Castiglione for their Festa di Primavera (Spring Festival). This picturesque walled town in the Garfagnana featured handmade crafts and food vendors. We strolled through the town and ooh and ahh’d at the beautiful old buildings and scenic views seen below. Tour group arrival Church at the base of…
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Cheese-throwing in Castiglione
This year, the Festa introduced a ‘Cheese-throwing Competition’. A local explained to me that this started off as a pass-time and has developed into a sport with different leagues. This competition starts at the bottom level of the village and the goal is to reach the finish line (at the top of the village) in…
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Wine Tasting at the Anteprima
Heather is taking a sommelier course in Lucca and we have a wine professional development course we are working on, so Heather suggested we go to the ‘Anteprima‘. The Anteprima, an annual event, is a large scale wine exhibition where Tuscan coast vinters debut their new wines (about 400 labels) and it was held at…
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Sagra di Baccala
What is a Sagra? A sagra is a local (village) festival in Italy, usually involving food, and maybe some music, or sport or competition. This Sagra was in Borgo a Mozzano, Lucca and is celebrating Baccala, also known as salted cod fish. We purchased our food tickets then went to the food line where we redeemed our…