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        July Festivals & Events:

        Generosa (Bergamo) - "Feast of the Madonna della Foppa" - (July 2nd)
        This festival is held to recall the apparition of Mary to two shepherd girls who were lamenting over a prolonged dry spell. The Virgin brought forth a spring of water on the spot where it still runs.
        Matera - "Feast of the Madonna della Bruna" - (July 2nd)
        In this religious celebration, an allegorical float decorated with papier-m�ch� friezes and statues bears a representation of the Madonna. At the end of the ceremony the crowd pulls the float apart.
        Siena - "Feast of the Palio" - (July 2nd)
        During the morning of this festival there is a trial run in the famous Piazza del Campo. In the early afternoon both horses and riders are blessed in the churches of the quarters participating in the race. Later in the afternoon a cortege in historical costume parades around the piazza while the sound of bells ring in the Mangia Tower. The race begins around 6:30 in the evening, and the next day the winning quarter parades through the city.
        Rieti - "Castel di Tora Dance of the Fant�sima)" (July 4th)
        This is one of the typical festivals held in the Sabine hills that features a procession and folk festival. In the crowd a three-meter tall figure, the fant�sima (ghost) appears and the man inside it lunges about, frightening the onlookers. The festivities end with the destruction of the effigy on a bonfire.
        Castel Madama (Rome) - "Palio Madama Margherita" - (July 5th)
        This is a parade in 16th-century costumes and horse races.
        Palmanova (Udine) - Historical Pageant (July 5th)
        Participants in 17th-century costumes evoke the founding of the city-fortress in 1593 as a defense against the Turkish invasion of Europe.
        Sedilo (Oristano)- "Ardia" - (July 6th & 7th)
        This is a daring horserace that ravels along a treacherous course and it recalls the victory of Constantine the Great over Maxentius in 312. A large number of riders race from a field, where an old stone cross stands, to the church, circling it seven times.
        Querceta (Lucca) - Versilian Historical Trophy (July 2nd)
        This event combines history and folklore and features spectacular flag-tossing contests.
        Palermo - "U Fistinu" (July 10th-15th)
        This is considered to be one of the most important celebrations in Sicily honoring Santa Rosalia - Palermo's patron saint. An enormous float carries a huge band parades thru the streets, and on the last evening of the festival, there is a spectacular display of fireworks.
        Venice - "Feast of the Redentore" - (July 10th-11th)
        This feast originates in the Church of the Redentore on the Giudecca and recalls the end to the plague of 1576. Throughout the day, pilgrims visit the church, and at night there is a magnificent fireworks show. On the following day there is a procession from San Marco to the church of the Redentore over a bridge of boats.
        Bagnara (Reggio Calabria)- "Feast of the Swordfish" (July 11th)
        This festival serves the typical fish of this area, "bagnarese" swordfish, and is offered to the residents of the town and tourists as well.
        Miturno (Latina) - "Festival of the Regne" - (July 11th)
        Based on local folklore, this event marks the offering of the first sheaf of grain to the Madonna delle Grazie.
        Lucca - "Feast of San Paolino" - (July 11th & 12th)
        This feast day of Lucca's patron saint is comemmorated by the offering of a votive candle to the saint, with the blessing of the palio or banner. On July 12th, a crossbow contest is held in the evening between the city's three districts.
        Agnone (Isernia) - "Feast of the Madonna della Carmine" - (July 16th)
        A procession is held with a wonderful fireworks display held in the evening.
        Castel Madama (Rome) - "Pear Festival" - (July 18th)
        This festival features a parade in historical costume and horse races - same as the Castel Madama Festival of July 5th.
        Cattolica (Forli) - "Feast of the Rustida" - (July 20th)
        This is a festive outdoor fish roast.
        Bolsena (Forli) - "Misteri of Santa Cristina" - (July 23rd-24th)
        Small stages are erected in the town's squares, where younger citizens in typical costumes pose in the tableaux representing the saint's martyrdom.
        Caltagirone (Catania) - "Feast of San Giacomo" - (July 23rd-25th)
        Vigil lamps are arranged along the stairway of Santa Maria del Monte. The highly decorative patterns formed by the lights change every year.
        Levanto (La Spezia) - "Festival of the Sea" - (July 23rd-25th)
        This festival honors San Giacomo, patron saint of Fishermen. There are acrobatic parachute jumps, a nocturnal parade in costumes, fireworks and a procession of boats.
        Casteldidone (Cremona) - "Melon Festival (July 24th-25th)
        This is a folk and art festival in the evocative setting at the 16th-century Castello Mina.
        Arma di Taggia (Imperia) - "Lights on the Sea" - (July 25th)
        This festival presents an unusual spectacle of floating lights
        Pistoia - "Joust of the Bear" - (July 25th)
        This joust has origins from the 14th century and is rich in historical and folk elements. It is a contest between twelve riders, three for each quarter of the town, who must lance at a gallop two targets in the form of bears.
        Teglio (Sondrio) - "Pizzoccheri Festival" - (July 25th)
        This festival is gastronic in nature and is held in the pinewood near an old tower. It features pizzoccheri, which is a noodle made of whole grain.
        Montefiascone (Viterbo) - "Wine Festival" - (July 25th)
        This festival features sporting events, art shows and folklore, such as historical cortege that evokes the legend of the famous local wine.
        Jelsi (Campobasso) - "Wheat Festival" - (July 26th)
        This festival features a parade of unusual carts without wheels that move on runners. Called "traglie," they are decorated with wheat.
        San Mango Sul Calore (Avellino) - "Feast of the Horsemen of Sant'Anna (July 26th) " -
        A group of horsemen ride as a gallop to the Calore river and then to the Chapel of Sant'Anna.
        Palmoli (Chieti) - "Feast of the Madonna del Carmine" - (July 26th-27th)
        This is a characteristic parade of the "pacchianelle" (children in costume) and display of corn (granoppoli).
        Gubbio (Perugia) - "Gubbio Festival" - (July-End of the Month)
        International Day of Music.



        August Festivals:

        Ascoli Piceno Quintana (August 1st)
        More than seven hundred people articipate in 15th-century costumes and represent musicians, handmaidens, soldiers, drummers, lords and ladies. They parade thru the medieval streets of the town, before the tournament of the Quintana, in which horsemen ride at a figure representing a Saracen.
        "Cesenatico (Forli) - Garibaldi Festival" - (August 1st)
        This festival recalls Garibaldi's passage through Cesenatico in 1849. The programme consists of games, band music and fireworks.
        Collelongo (L'Aquila) "Lamb Festival" - (August 1st)
        Folklore and sporting events liven the festival held at Prati di Sant'Elia e San Leonardo.
        La Spezia - "Festival of the Sea" - (August 1st)
        This festival begins with a parade in folk costumes, followed by the traditional boat race in the sea of Lungomare Costantino Morin.
        Pollutri (Chieti) "Grape & Wine Festival" - (August 1st)
        Parade of floats, folk songs and dances and a dialect poetry contest.
        Robella (Asti) - "Historical Carnival" - (August 1st)
        This is a carnival that features the participation of figures representing the Marchese of Monferrato, his wife, and their court.
        Aviano Biancavallo (Udine) - International Folk Festival
        (August 1st-15th)
        During a fortnight a lot of groups in costume from different countries march on through the streets of the city. Among the events held are music, open-air performances, and fireworks.
        Assisi (Perugia) - "August Festival" (August 1st-30th)
        This is a month long calendar of events, ranging from those based on history and folklore to religious feasts. It includes the Feast of Pardon, Feast of San Rufino, Feast of Santa Chiara, and Feast of the Assumption, with a ceremony in the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. It features a parade in historical costume, a flag-tossing exhibition and a crossbow contest.
        Trani (Bari) - "Feast of San Nicola "Pellegrino (August 3rd-4th)
        Celebrations of the feast day of Trani's patron saint and a festival on the waterfont.
        Pisa - "Thanksgiving Festival" - (August 6th)
        Feltre (Belluno) - "Hisorical Palio" - (August 7th-8th)
        History is recreated in a parade in period costumes through this old fortress-town. This contest for the palio, or banner, pits the four quarters of the town against one another in an archery competition and other games.
        Sant'Elpidio a Mare (Ascoli Piceno) - Battle for the Pail" - (August 7th-8th)
        This event is the reenactment of an old medieval festival and participants wear costumes of that era. The four quarters compete in an amusing contest...each team must throw a ball into a well and keep its adversaries from doing the same. The team with the most points wins the symbolic right to be the first to draw water from the well throughout the year.
        Ventimiglia (Imperia) - "Sestieri Festival" - (August 7th-8th)
        The sestieri are the various quarters of the city. Many colorful folk events liven the festival. There is a relay race between the "sisteri" on the first day and a boat race the next day, followed by a parade in historical costume.
        Aosta - "Summer Fair" - (August 8th)
        This is the traditional summer handicrafts fair of sant'Orso.
        Capracotta (Isernia) "Pezzata" - (August 8th)
        This is a gastronomic festival held on the grassy meadows of Campo Gentile. There are folk songs and dances and traditional mutton dishes are served.
        Massa Marittima (Grosseto) "Crossbow of the Girifalco" - (August 8th)
        Summer edition of the festival also held in May. A parade in historical costume and afterwards competition between crossbow-men representing the three districts of the towns of Cittanova, Cittavecchia and Borgo.
        Cervia (Ravenna) - "Feast of San Lorenzo" - (August 10th)
        Annual Festival with water games and fireworks.
        Silanus (Nuoro) - "Feast of San Lorenzo" - (August 10th)
        This celebration takes place in the 12th century church of San Lorenzo and includes religious rites, a procession in folk costumes, folk songs and dances.
        Messina: "Parade of the Giants: (August 13th-14th)
        This festival honors the legendary founders of Messina - Grifone & Mata. They were a Moorish warrior and a woman wearing a turreted crown.The statues are huge and are mounted on wheels.
        Piazza Armenia (Enna): Palio dei Normanni (August 13th-14th)
        The reenactment of the entry of Norman troops into the ancient city of Plutia is portrayed in historical costumes. The offering of the symbolic keys and the tournament in which the town's horsemen compete for the "palio" also is part of the festivities.
        Fontanarosa (Avellino) - "Festival of the Straw Obelisk" (August 14th)
        The event recalls ancient harvest rituals of thanksgiving. A thirty-meter straw obelisk, erected in the square, is the centerpiece of festivites.
        Palio dei Quartieri -(August 14th)
        Crossbow contest with a tournament in historical costumes and a colorful exhibition of flag-tossers.
        Lavagna (Genoa) "Feast of the Cake of Fieschi" - (August 14th)
        A reenactment in period costume of the wedding of Opizzo Fieschi and Countess Bianca de' Bianchi. After the final procession, pieces of the wedding cake and distributed to the public.
        Sassari - "Festival of the Candelabra" - (August 14th)
        Immense wooden columns representing candles are carried through the city in honor of Mary's Assumption to fulfill a vow made by the people in 1692, to bring a plague to an end.
        Monopoli (Bari) - Madonna della Madia (August 14th-16th)
        This is a water festival connected with a local tradition involving the salvaging of a panel painting of a Madonna that had been washed up on the beach.
        Alassio (Savonia) "Festival of the Muretto and Palio of the Sea"
        (August 15th)
        These two events are held every year at Ferragosto (the mid-August holiday), and they include a contest between the various quarters of Alassio and a light show on the sea in the evening
        Caltagirone (Catania) - "Feast of the Madonna del Ponte"
        (August 15th)
        Pilgrims make their way on their knees to pay homage to a statue of the Dead Christ.
        Canelli (Asti) - "Hazelnut Festival" (August 15th)
        This festival is ancient in its origin and is the occasion for an important market of this local product.
        Curatatone (Mantua) - "Exhibition of the Madonnari" - (August 15th)
        The "madonnari" are artists who reproduce religious art works on the pavement, using coloured chalk, held in the square outside the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
        Fermo (Ascoli Piceno) - "Palio dell'Assunta" - (August 15th)
        This is the reenactment of an event which took place in 1182, when Raniero, lord of the castle of Monterubbiano, pledged his loyalty to the city of Fermo and promised a palio (banner) in honour of the Assumption. Ten districts parade in period costumes and vie for the palio.
        Garda (Verona) - "Palio delle Contrade (August 15th)
        This is also known as the "Palio of the Assunta," and features a fishing boat regatta and a parade in historical costume.
        Termoli (Campobasso) - "Festival of the Sea" (August 15th)
        Events includes a greased pole and release of hot-air balloons in the morning; music and the simulated burning of the Swabian castle occurs at midnight.
        Nuoro - "Feast of the Redentore " (August 15th-22nd)
        A bronze statue is placed on Mount Ortobene, and groups in folk costumes from all over Sardinia participate in a parade through the town.
        Foglianese (Benevento) - "Wheat Festival" (August 16th)
        Toward evening there is a procession of tractors covered with straw decorations, followed by youth in folk costumes. Illuminated by multicolored lights, the evening ends with entertainment.
        Roccanova (Potenza) - "Feast of San Rocco" (August 16th)
        The feast of this city's patron saint is celebrated with a procession and colorful folk entertainment.
        Siena - "Palio dell'Assunta" (August 16th)
        The traditional race which dates back to 1147 in the Piazza del Campo around 6:30 p.m.
        Citta Della Pieve (Perugia) - "Palio dei Terzieri" (August 22nd)
        The three districts of the town parade through the streets. An archery contest takes place and the winning district is awarded the "Palio."
        "World Folk Festival" (August-Date Varies)
        This is an important and significant folk meeting with the participation of countless nations. During the four days of this event a beautiful and fascinating parade in historical costume marches through the ancient part of the city.
        Termoli (Campobasso) - "Fish Festival" - (August 28th)
        This festival takes place in the old fishing port, beautifully illuminated for the occasion, and ends with spectacular fireworks.
        L'Aquila - Perdonanza Papale" (August 28th-29th)
        This event recalls the coronation of Celestino V as pope in 1294 in the church of Santa Maria di Collemaggio.
        Arezzo - "Giostra del Saracino" (August 29th)
        Early in the morning of this festival a herald proclaims the challenge. Later in the day a cortege of figures in 14-century costumes proceeds to the main square, where eight horsemen representing the old districts of the town take past in the contest. They must strike the centre of the shield of a dummy on a swivel, avoiding a blow from its whip as it swings around. (The dummy is called the "Saracino".) The winning district is awarded a golden lance.
        Palmi (Reggio Calabria) - "Procession of the "Varia" (August 29th)
        This is a religious celebration honoring the Madonna and it is held on the last Sunday of August. The local people recall the Assumption, parading through the main street and a huge machine (over 25 meters high) decorated with flowers, statues and a statue of the Virgin Mary in the center. A girl from the town is chosen to ride on this elaborate Vara.


        The above information is from:
        "Italia ENIT - An Italian Year 1993"












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