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Festivals of Umbria - annual fairs, events, sagre and feste of Umbria

Orvieto Home Wines of Orvieto and Umbria History of Orvieto Orvieto location map Festivals of Umbria

One of the great pleasures of a visit to Italy is to stumble across a local festival or fair (festa, sagre, fiera). Although there are a great many of these events - fairs, costumed festivals, patron saints' days etc. - so that your chances of finding yourselves participating by chance are good, it is nevertheless worthwhile to do a bit of research because some of these festivals are not to be missed - as a show to be viewed and/or an event to take part in. The festivals of Umbria are characterised by horseback events, flag throwing, and, notably, dressing up in Renaissance or Mediaeval costume, all of which are extremely popular in Italy, especially in Tuscany and Umbria, and have reached a very high level of professionalism. Entire villages sometimes deck themselves out in mediaeval gear for several days at a time for festivals in Umbria and Tuscany. In addition to the spectacle, there is invariably a good range of food available - indeed, very often the raison d'être of a seasonal fair is a particular harvest, game season, mushroom season, vendemmia, olive harvest and so on, with the food matching the occasion.

Giostra della Quintana at Foligno

La Giostra della Quintana at Foligno

Selected festivals of Umbria

 (Ferragosto - Ascension Day - 15 August festivals are listed separately below) 

Orvieto – Umbria Jazz Winter – (January)

Terni – Celebrations for St Valentine – (14 February)

 Todi  - Italian Antiques show – (mid April)

Narni – Corsa all’anello – (22 April to 9 May)

Assisi - Calendimaggio – (first week of May)

Narni – Celebrations for St Giovenale – (3 May)

 Gubbio - Corsa dei Ceri - (15 May), a famous palio, a spectacular run held every year on 15 May, in which three teams, clad in the distinctive colours of yellow, blue and black, with white trousers and red belts and neckbands and devoted to S. Ubaldo (the patron saint of Gubbio), S. Giorgio, and S. Antonio, run up much of the mountain from the main square in front of the Palazzo dei Consoli to the Basilica of S. Ubaldo, each team carrying a statue of their saint mounted on a wooden octagonal prism, similar to an hour-glass shape 4 m tall and weighing about 280 kg.

Corsa dei Ceri Gubbio

Corsa dei Ceri, Gubbio

Gubbio - Palio della Balestra (last Sunday of May) is a crossbow competition dating back to 1410. The competitors are members of the crossbow clubs in Gubbio and Sansepolcro, who dress in Renaissance costume for the competition. The winner receives a banner made especially for the event each year by a noted artist. After the competition there is a procession through the town's torch-lit streets. There is also a display of flag-throwing, a popular activity in Italy. The corresponding event in Sansepolcro takes place on the second Sunday of September.

Gubbio - Palio della Balestra

Palio della Balestra

Orvieto - Palio dell’Oca (30 May)

This palio is a mediaeval joust that involves knights from the various city factions of Orvieto competing to win the Palio victory standard on 30 May from 9 pm onwards in Piazza del Popolo. Originally the joust was named the Corsa alle Oche and required each knight to charge his horse towards a couple of unfortunate geese hanging from a rope, whereupon he was supposed to take off their heads. Today’s tamer version has a white handkerchief in place of the geese, which the knight is supposed to grab and deposit in the appropriate basket. The joust in fact has two victory standards: the Palio di Contrada, which is awarded to the winning Contrada faction, and the Paliotto Individuale, given to the best knight.

Programme:
29 May 6 pm, Palazzo dei Sette – presentation of the Cava and Pistrella teams
30 May 4 pm – blessing of the horses and knights in Piazza Belisario and Piazza della Repubblica, 6 pm procession of the nobles of Cava and Pistrella, performance by the Gruppo Arcieri e Balestrieri di Orvieto, flag-throwing and music, 9 pm Piazza del Popolo joust for the assignation of the Paliotto, 9.30 pm procession in period costume, 10 pm Palio dell’Oca.

Palio dell’Oca Orvieto

Palio dell’Oca, Orvieto

Foligno – Giostra della Quintana – (June)

Bevagna – Mercato delle Gaite – (end of June)

 Spoleto - Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi – (end of June to July)

 Perugia - Umbria Jazz summer – (July)

 Gubbio - Roman Theatre season – (mid July to August)

Fiume (near Gubbio) – Crayfish Fair – (mid September)

 Assisi - Celebrations for St Francis of Assisi – (4 October)

 Perugia - Eurochocolate – (October)

Città di Castello – Trade fair of the Truffle and woodland products – (end October/early November)

Torgiano – Italian wine judging competition – (end October/early November)

Narni – Wine and Chestnut fair – (first weekend of November after the 6 November)

 Ferragosto - Ascension Day - 15 August festivals and events in Umbria 

Ferragosto is arguably the most important holiday in the Italian calendar. Its roots are Roman - probably pre-Roman - and linked to the middle of summer and the end of hard labour in the fields. During Christian times ferragosto became Ascension Day and commemorates the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. Almost all businesses except restaurants are closed. Families gather together for marathon meals, both at home and also at restaurants so reservations are essential. There are innumerable feasts and festivals on this day throughout Umbria and the rest of Italy. Here are a few taking place in Umbria (dates approximate)

 Le Vaite
The event takes place from August 15 to the first Sunday of September in honour of Lucrezia Borgia with mediaeval dinners, tournaments, historical parades, conferences, concerts, cinemas, exhibitions.
Spoleto, 15 August to the first Sunday of September.

Spoleto Le Vaite

Le Vaite, Spoleto

Palio dei Terzieri
"Hunting the bull" with historical costumes.
Città della Pieve, from 10 August to the second-to-last Sunday of the month.

 Experimental Opera House di Spoleto "A. Belli"
Spoleto, from mid-August to early October.

 Gubbio no Borders
Festival of music and entertainment.
Gubbio, middle two weeks of August.

 Earth Citernae
Ceramics market.
Citerna, from 2 to 17 August approximately.

 Palio dei Terzieri
Cooking race - the products of the race are eaten afterwards.
Cascia, 19 August approximately.

 Donation of the Holy Spina
Parade in costume, performances and challenges between districts.
Montone, mid-August.

 Corciano Festival
Evenings devoted to art, history, culture, tradition, gastronomy.
Corciano, mid-August.

 Ferragosto Torreggiano
Shows, cultural events, concerts.
Tuoro sul Trasiemeno, from 1 to 17 August. 

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