Sagre #4 - Cantine Aperte

This week we’ve got the very finest of festivals for you, celebrating one of Italy’s very finest products: WINE. We thought we’d post this one a bit in advance of the sagra itself, just in case anyone felt the overwhelming urge to hop on a plane and find their way to Italia for Cantine Aperte on May 30^th-31^st.

Cantine Aperte means “open cellars” and this Italian festival of wine really does do what it says on the metaphorical tin. All across the country, some of Italy’s finest wineries open their cellars to the public. It is organised by the Movimento Turismo del Vino or “Wine Tourism Movement” (yes, it is a real thing…) and has been happening every year since 1993.

What happens during Cantine Aperte will vary from region to region, but almost always involves a tour of the vineyards and wineries, a peek at the cellars, with an explanation of how everything works, and the opportunity to taste and buy some of the finest wines in the world. Some places also offer special admissions where you can eat as well and even enjoy al fresco entertainment. It has become a key time for local communities, who organise a variety of cultural, artistic, and folklore-based events along the wine festivities.

One of the joys of Cantine Aperte is that it is just as popular with locals as it is with tourists. According to the Movimento Turismo del Vino’s website, “Cantine Aperte” has evolved over the years to be far more than just a wine festival, it has become a philosophy, denoting a way of travelling and discovering more of Italy and its wine territories. Year on year it attracts more tourists and wine-lovers from all over the globe. Unlike Vinitaly in Verona, this is not an event aimed at sommeliers and wine professionals, but at wine enthusiasts – a chance for winemakers to share their lives’ work with others.

 

Cantine Aperte is generally free and there is no need to reserve so if any of you decide to call in sick on Friday 29^th and get yourself over Tuscany, we won’t judge… 

Sagre #3- Marta Lattarino Festival

Another week, another delicious food festival to celebrate in good ol’ Italia. This week we’re giving you a glimpse into the Sagra del Lattarino – which isn’t a million miles away from Camogli’s fish festival.

Lattarino – or “atherina boyeri” if you insist on calling them by their biological name – are tiny silver fish which live in a number of the lakes in central Italy. The festival celebrating them takes place in Marta, a little town on the shores of Lake Bolsena, in Latium, northwest of Rome. Marta has had a thriving fish industry for centuries, as well as producing olive oil and a wine called Cannaiola, which means “warbler”. Sweet. This very specific sagra came into being in the 1980s, when a group of locals decided it would be appropriate to have a festival marking their appreciation for their environment and the gastronomic delights offered by the lake.

As with Camogli’s festival, the Sagra del Lattarino is a great occasion for (mostly local) people to come together and celebrate food. Again there is an enormous pan involved, though not as big as Camogli’s – sorry Marta! The little silver fish are coated in flour then fried and handed out among all those present. The festival costs about 10 euros to attend and as well as the fish there are fried “pizzetta” or mini pizzas, lemon bread, cheese, pastries and wine. You can’t say the Italians don’t know how to live, eh? 

Sagre #2 - Camogli Fish Festival

Carrying on with Sagre month this week and we have the Camogli Fish Festival, or the Sagra del Pesce, also known as the “Fish Festival of Saint Fortunato” (patron saint of fishermen! Who knew?)

The festival started in 1952, born out of a WW2 tradition of local fishermen’s wives offering fish to the Holy Virgin as thanks for keeping them safe from the war. It takes place in Camogli, a small port town near Portofino in Liguria, which is a coastal (duh) region in North West Italy. Camogli is known as one of Liguria’s “best-kept secrets”, with its colourful houses and beautiful beaches. It has managed to stay reasonably free of mass tourism thanks to its lack of large carpark. How about that?! It is nicknamed the “City of a Thousand White Sailing Ships” due to its prestige as a large seaport in the Middle Ages which accommodated hundreds of Tall Ships in its heyday, and is a 20-minute train-ride away from Liguria’s capital of Genoa.

The festival consists, essentially, of locals, visitors, and tourists being graced with free helpings of fried fish. Over 30, 000 servings, or around 3 tonnes, of blue fish are fried up by the fishermen themselved, in the world’s largest frying pan, which measures 5 metres across and has a 7-metre-long handle.

The night before, there is a huge firework display, and Camogli’s two neighbourhoods (Porto and Pinetto) compete to see which can build a bigger bonfire. These bonfires – which are often up to 2 stories high - are then lit by a “fire-wire” which stretches down from the church’s highest steeple! (Don’t worry though, the fire brigade is always at hand, just in case!)