autumnfesta

If you are visiting Abruzzo in October, you may pick up the words sagre delle castagne or castagnata – which refers to a dedicated chestnut festival which is one of the many harvests and reasons to make a beeline to Abruzzo in the Autumn.

Each first Sunday of the month, Abruzzo and Italian state museums and archaeological sites open their doors for free as part of Domenica al Museo.  This is a fabulous national wide initiative that allows you to explore and discover the history and treasures of Abruzzo.

If you are in Abruzzo in November, and like your autumn nights peppered with gathering outdoors to watch colossal towering pyres lit that evoke rites traditions from the distant past that celebrate new beginnings with song, Vino Novello, Scanno’s ‘Le Glorie di San Martino’ is unmissable!

Abruzzo’s traditional New Year was known as ‘Capetiempe’ & loosely spanned the nights of 31st October through to the 11th November. Through a local folk tale, Favole e Leggende d’Abruzzo explores this time of death and rebirth, practiced in many areas of Abruzzo till just after the 2nd World War

Here’s our Halloween trail of where to take the kids in Abruzzo for the 31st of October, but also the pick of the better-known events for adults who’d like to experience Abruzzo’s traditional events outside the family that centre around the night of Ognissanti

For those longing to attend a festival in Abruzzo that pulls its enviable food, wine, dance, and community strands together, it’s worth planning a  visit to Alanno’s Feste delle Uva, grape festival

Tornareccio is the town in Abruzzo that everyone should make a beeline to who loves art, bees and honey. The town has been transformed into an open-air museum and a vibrant centre of contemporary art that pays homage to its status of capital of honey

A papier-mâché costume disguises a man and fireworks whose enthralling rhythmic dance to local folk music begins slowly before reaching its finale, ecstatic explosions

Here in Abruzzo, Italy it’s the 1st & 2nd November that celebrates the magic of Autumn & reflects on the past and present familial bond which keeps Italy going

It was almost a case of “olived-out” courtesy of the omnipresent olive-based conversations, that is until an olive sagra down in San Vincenzo Valle Roveto!