Lazio Explorer

Time flies when you're having fun! As I mentioned in my last sagre post, the sagre and feste are coming thick and fast now. The trick is in separating the wheat from the chaff, and this is where we come in. After extensive research, we've compiled our picks of the events in Lazio in July. There are many, many more. If you want to look for sagre/feste yourself (and can roughly read Italian), I can recommend tuttelesagre.it, sagreinitalia.it, and perhaps the best of the three, folclore.eu.

Before I go any further, I best explain what a sagra is, just so you know what you're letting yourselves in for. A sagra (plural: sagre) is a local festival, very often involving food, that frequently ties in with a historical pageant or sporting event, such as a joust or a horse race (where it is called a palio). Italy, birthplace of the slow food movement, is positively buzzing with sagre and feste. Going to one of these is a great way to see Italy, as you'll be surrounded by locals and have the opportunity to taste real local food, both grown and prepared locally. It's as good as it gets.

***NOTE: These dates have been updated for 2013***

La Notte Bianca
7th -8th July Ronciglione, Prov. di Viterbo

La notte bianca - the white night, is a bit of an institution in Italy. Essentially, over the summer, many towns and cities throughout Italy host a night of food, music, culture, history and, of course partying, all night. That's a notte bianca. This weekend, starting at 5pm on the Sunday and continuing until 4am on the Monday, Ronciglione, home of a famous palio, takes its bow. It's a lovely town, perched on the edge of a volcanic lake, lago di Vico, and one that I often visit. More information on Ronciglione and nearby Caprarola can be found in my guest post for Arttrav. Along with all the shops, restaurants, bars etc., staying open all night, there will be live music (including tributes to U2 and Queen), fashion shows, children play areas and street performers dancing to famous songs such as Tarantella and Salterello. If that's not enough to tempt you, there's an exhibition of local antiques, crafts and art taking place throughout the city.

Interested? The full program (in Italian), can be found here.


10th Raduno Fiat 500
14th July, Tivoli, Prov. di Roma

Nothing says Italy like the old-style Fiat Cinquecento. It is the Italian car for Italians. If you want to see a cacophony of Cinquecento (I'm sure cacophony is the collective noun) head to Tivoli, 30km east-north-east of Rome, to catch the 10th Raduno (gathering) of Fiat 500s. These much loved (and polished) cars will assemble at 8am in the center of the town before taking off for a panoramic tour through Tivoli, before stopping at Bar-Gelateria Azzura di Villa Adriana for a coffee, and then pootling towards the restaurant 'Royal Lake Park' (on Via Tiburtina Valeria KM 34.500) for lunch. At 6pm there is a presentation, before they rev up their engines and return for a lap of Tivoli around 7pm.

Fiat 500 photos courtesy of Nicolee Drake (@cucinadigitale)

If you want to participate with a fiat 500 yourself, you'll need to register by calling 347.8403946 asap (they are limited to 100 entrants).

Di Tuscia Un Po'
2nd-4th August, Bolsena, Prov. di Viterbo

Tuscia comprises an area of Northern Lazio that was under Etruscan influence over 3000 years ago. We refer to the area that the Etruscans controlled as 'Etruria'. The Romans referred to it as Tuscia, which has evolved over time through 'Tuscania and finally, Toscana (Tuscany). Tuscia, is now the unofficial name for the southern part of Etruria, which roughly corresponds to the present day province of Viterbo. Di Tuscia Un Po', in Bolsena, is a showcase of all the local produce, recipes and traditions of northern Lazio. The market will have over 50 stands with tastings of local wine, oil, cheese, meat, honey, nuts, legumes and cured meats, as well as other local produce like plants and animals. In addition to the market, there will be artistic performances, music, and other cultural exhibitions.

Tuscia in Jazz
9th July - 12th August, various cities, Prov. di Viterbo

Stretching over a number of cities in the Province of Viterbo - Soriano nel Cimino, Ronciglione, Sutri, Tuscania, Caprarola, Bagnaia, Tuscania and Bagnoregio, the Tuscia in Jazz movement promises a showcase of talent. The full program is here. The festival starts in Ronciglione and Caprarola, from the 9th to the 13th July (so straight after La Notte Bianca) before moving onto Soriano Nel Cimino from the 14th to the 29th (with a particularly interesting night of 10 concerts on the 28th), then Viterbo (30th) and Bagnoregio (1st-5th), before finishing in the city of Sutri (with its Etruscan necropolis and Roman amphitheatre) from the 7th to the 12th August.

As we're going on holiday for a bit, we won't be doing a sagre post for August, but we will still post links to sagre/feste that we think are interesting on our facebook page and twitter feed, so, if you use either, then don't forget to 'like' or 'follow' us there. Finally, if you want to know about other festivals/sagre in Lazio, click on the 'Festa' topic on the right hand side of the page. Buon divertimento!

Photo credits:

Sagre introduction and Di Tuscia un po' images from http://www.tusciaweb.eu/
La notte bianca poster from Associazione 1728 (Ronciglione)
Fiat 500 photos by Nicolee Drake from Cucina Digitale
Tuscia in Jazz logo from their website.