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Traditionally, on the 1st day of Advent (4th Sunday before Xmas), the zampognari would mark the day by touring their neighbourhoods, playing their Novena in exchange for food and charitable donations.
Families would offer the zampognari simple but heartfelt gifts: rustic bread, dried figs, pecorino, honey biscuits, a flask of vino cotto, or even candles and a few coins, seasonal donations that reflected both gratitude and the spirit of Advent charity. Today, these items are often gifted to carità d’Avvento. In this Advent charity, the parish or local confraternities collect food, wine, small monetary gifts, and essentials to support vulnerable families during the winter season.
Being that blustery bagpipers get all the attention, today we’re highlighting the harmony, the oboe of the shepherds, the ‘ciaramelle’, featured here are two antique ones that sit up in Teramo’s Ethnographic Museum of Cerqueto di Fano Adriano, TE. Is this the rose window of Collemaggio in L’Aquila or Fano Adriano, I wonder…?
Try our Advent in Abruzzo Calendar quiz about the Zampognari
Author: Sam Dunham
Sam is a freelance SEO content creator and IGCSE Geography and English teacher at Istituto Cristo Re in Rome. She also runs the Life In Abruzzo Cultural Association, sharing stories and insights about this captivating region.
Alongside raising a teenager, Sam hosts guests at her family’s traditional home, the Little House of the Firefly in Abruzzo, offering a warm welcome and insider tips on local culture, food, and hidden gems.
