L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 www.italoamericano.org 11 L'Italo-Americano S everal years ago on a magi- cal Saturday night in the Umbrian hilltown of Spello I watched its citizens transform the narrow stone streets into vibrant tapestries made entirely of flower petals. During the annual Infiorata (flow- ering) for the feast of Corpus Christi (the Holy Eucharist), months of gathering and prepara- tion culminate in a marathon of painstaking work to create bibli- cal scenes and reproductions of masterpieces by artists like Michelangelo and Raphael. At noon the local bishop carries the communion host in a solemn pro- cession along the carpet of flow- ers. By late afternoon, after thou- sands of admirers have strolled through the narrow streets, all that lingers is the sweet scent of blos- soms in the air. Throughout the year la festa italiana provides a delightful glimpse into Italy's history and culture. Everything from a nation- al holiday to a village saint's day to a harvest, whether of wheat, olives, or grapes, is a good reason for festevolezza (rejoicing), usual- ly with copious quantities of spe- cial foods and lively crowds. "Quando è festa, è festa!" Italians say, "When it's a party, party!" If you're heading to Italy in the coming months, you might want to join in some of these festivities. Sagra della Fragola (Strawberry Festival) in Nemi, second Sunday in June The volcanic soil around Lake Nemi south of Rome produces strawberries—including the scrumptious fragoline di bosco (wild strawberries)—renowned for their sweetness and flavor. At this annual celebration of straw- berry season, women dressed in rustic costumes of bygone days sell fresh-picked berries with fresh cream or ice cream and strawberries in pancakes, milk shakes, and liqueurs. If you like strawberries, you'll love the chance to sample them in more ways than you might imagine. Festa dei Gigli (Festival of the Lilies) in Nola, first Sunday after the summer solstice Ever since the fifteenth centu- ry the residents of this southern town have been celebrating the return of the local bishop in the fifth-century after he liberated Nola's men, who had been enslaved in Africa. Nola's citizens came out to welcome him carry- ing huge bouquets of lilies. For centuries the people substituted a very heavy candle, which they lit in the city piazza. Today's gigli (lilies) have evolved into four-ton, The Italian summer: fairs, folklore, sagre and feste 75-foot-high creations of wood and paper-mache paraded through the narrow streets by relays of 90 to 120 men as orchestras play and girls with tambourines dance. Festino di Santa Rosalia, Palermo (mid-July) Every year Sicilians give thanks to Santa Rosalia, Palermo's patron saint. La Santuzza (the little saint), as she's affectionately called, saved the town from the plague in 1624. The centerpiece of the elab- orate celebrations has always been a triumphal cart—sometimes resembling an enormous fortress, sometimes a gigantic warship, once so opulent it was called "the little mountain of gold." Today's cart is a model of a seventeenth- century triumphal chariot, which looks, as author Carol Field puts it in Celebrating Italy, like "a great golden galleon set on a copper- colored seashell," pulled by six horses with an entire velvet-cos- tumed orchestra inside. During the festivities Palermo drapes its streets in canopies of lights that shimmer like jewels. The major events are the procession of the triumphal cart to the sea on July 13 and a reenactment of the miracle of Santa Rosalia in the piazza of the Royal Palace the next day, fol- lowed by a stunning gioco dei fuochi (play of fire) that draws thousands of spectators. Torta Dei Fieschi (Wedding Cake) in Lavagna, August 14 Count Opizzo Fieschi wanted to demonstrate his great love for his bride, Bianca dei Bianchi of Siena, when they wed on August 14, 1230. And so he ordered a cake made with 4,000 eggs, 3,300 pounds of sugar, and 3,300 pounds of flour, frosted with 110 pounds of almond paste. The thir- ty-foot-high cake, shared by everyone in the town, testified to the immensity of his devotion. Every year the wedding is reenacted, with a different young woman as the beautiful bride. There are fencing contests, flag- throwing demonstrations, con- certs, a candlelight parade with knights in costume, and—of course—an immense wedding cake. Men in medieval costume carry the torta through the town and hand out lottery tickets—blue for men, pink for women, each pair with a matching code word. The men and women must com- pare cards with scores of people to find their match and qualify for a slice of cake. Ferragosto, August 15 The ancient Romans honored various gods, particularly the god- dess Diana and the cycle of fertili- ty and ripening, with month-long celebrations they called Feriae Augusti (Fairs of the Emperor Augustus). Now both a national holiday and the feast of the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Christ, into heaven, Ferragosto marks the height of the Italian vacation season. The entire country shuts down to celebrate—or to indulge in dolce far niente (sweet doing nothing). Italy's major cities empty at this time of year, and the expression Ferragosto in città (the August holiday in town) refers to the loneliness of those left behind. If you're staying in a seaside town or mountain retreat, you can join in low-key celebrations that typi- cally include a church procession, a concert in the piazza and fire- works. Sagra dell'Oca (Goose Festival) in Mortara, last Sunday in September This festival in the province of Pavia commemorates a gastro- nomic innovation: the invention of salami made with goose meat. The annual tribute features a Palio dell'Oca (goose race), along with street entertainment and stalls where you can taste other goose-based treats, includ- ing Italy's version of a dish for which the French are famous: foie gras. You can find a list of major festivals at Rick Steves' site: https://www.ricksteves.com/europ e/italy/festivals. Dianne Hales is the author of the New York Times-bestselling LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language [Link: http://amzn.to/1UizNbz] and MONA LISA: A Life Discovered. [Link: http:// amzn.to/27VF2Fz.] LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE DIANNE HALES Strawberry festival in Nemi

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