Tasty, fun, folkloristic and always perfect for getting to know Liguria: here are the June Festivals
Riviera of Flowers
Borgomaro Muscle Festival
Sunday 7th July for lovers of taste and festivals, the gastronomic festival arrives with the Sagra dei Muscoli alla Saracena, with food stands and a dance evening. Also this year the association “U Castellu” proposes the culinary event for the alleys of the town of Borgomaro: “Spantegai in ti Caruggi”. Starting at 7:30 pm you can taste the Muscoli alla Saracena. In addition to the typical Ligurian dishes seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, you can taste the highly sought-after minestrone, octopus with potatoes, ratatouille, grilled meats, eu cundiun (the condiglione) the most Ligurian salad there is!
Vermentino Award in Diano Castello
Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th July as the event dedicated to the great wine of Liguria. As is known, this particular white wine is historically produced in many Italian regions, in addition to Liguria, and during the Vermentino Award we were able to taste excellent wines from all over Italy, each of which gave off different notes, depending on the type of soil and the position of the vine with respect to the sea. For three days, in fact, to keep us company we had not only guided tastings of wines from the 66 participating companies, but also very interesting guided tours of the historic center by the Giro borgo association, a painting exhibition, shows, live music, and the many food stands where you could appreciate the local “street food”.
Herbs and lavender festival Cosio d’Arroscia
Sunday 21st July in Cosio d’Arroscia Borgo del Benessere the Herb and Lavender Festival is held. At 12 o’clock, the gastronomic route will start through the streets of the historic center, along which you can taste the numerous specialties of the valley, based on aromatic herbs and typical dishes of the famous Cucina Bianca. Not to be missed, in particular, are the traditional recipes of Cosio such as the rajore all inheritance, the steeple and the lavender caterinettes. The day will be animated by itinerant groups with folk music and dances. Along the route, a market with a demonstration of stone and lavender processing.
Palm Riviera
Tira Festival
From Thursday 11th to Sunday 14th July in Cairo Montenotte the festival dedicated to the tira returns, which is a typical food of Cairo Montenotte: a bread roll cooked in the oven mixed with sausage. The tira festival is a very heartfelt event for the people of Caire and beyond; in fact, it involves customers from all over Liguria and Lower Piedmont. The festival is now traditionally organized thanks to the teamwork and synergy that has always tied the members of the board of directors of the Pro Loco. To honor this typical rustic Cairese, artists of international level have been called with whom an agreement has been reached to offer what is good for the public not only of Caire but of all Liguria. The Pro Loco therefore confronts the territory with a new edition of the tira festival with a program that is certainly rich and satisfying, made of good food and lots of laughter.
Michettin Festival in Albenga
From 23rd to 28th July the renowned Sagra du Michettin of the parish of San Giorgio di Albenga returns, a festival with musical performances, exhibitions and photography competitions. The festival is dedicated to Michettin, the famous fried bread whose dough is made with potatoes, flour, milk and yeast, cooked on the spot in large pots. The festival, famous for its good food, also offers live music, games for children and teenagers, artisans and merchants who offer their interesting products, photography exhibitions, sacred art exhibitions, exhibitions of ancient agricultural equipment and reviews of chamber, classical and sacred music.
The Summer Carnival of Loano
July 27th The twenty-first edition of Carnevalöa Summer Edition is here, the event organized by the Vecchia Loano Association with the patronage and contribution of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Municipality of Loano. Starting at 9:30 pm, the floats that gave life to the 28th edition of Carnevalöa this winter will parade along Corso Roma. The parade will be accompanied by music, dancing, confetti and masked groups. The parade of floats will be opened by the band of the Santa Maria Immacolata Musical Association of Loano, followed by the traditional float of the Clock Tower and Palazzo Doria with the Ligurian mask Capitan Fracassa on board and the Loano masks “U Beciancìn”, King of the Carnival and official mask of Carnevalöa, “U Puè Peppin”, traditional mask of the Loano carnival, and the Princess Doria del Castello (whose interpreter was elected last summer during the Miss Riviera delle Palme competition, also organized by Vecchia Loano).
Festival in Cairo
Genoa and surroundings
Homemade Ravioli Festival
From Friday 5th to Monday 8th Julylio is back the Sagra del Raviolo Casalingo in Borgo Fornari, now in its twenty-third edition. Following requests, the organizers have decided to increase the offer by adding Monday, thanks to the work of over one hundred people including men, women and children. By now this has become a fixed appointment of the summer in the valley, partly for the beautiful environment ideal for young people and families, thanks also to the green park and games for the little ones, but above all for the quality of the dishes. The recipe, as per tradition, includes the use of genuine meat (Piedmontese Fassone raised in small stables), eggs, first choice cheese and local borage.
Fieschi Evenings
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th in Torriglia the evenings dedicated to the Fieschi return, with a sumptuous medieval dinner and then folk groups with a historical reenactment between trumpet blasts and drum rolls, at the end free tasting of the canestrello di Torriglia. More than a dessert, it represents one of the gastronomic flags of Liguria: produced in the best pastry shops in the province of Genoa but born five centuries ago in Torriglia. And it is here, in the enchanting village of Val Trebbia, a crossing point along the trade route that from the Middle Ages to the present day connects the Po Valley to the sea. Obviously, around the shops and the ancient pastry shops, which are six and make the dessert in six different ways. The base is always the simple one with high quality butter, flour, egg yolks and sugar. What makes the difference, sometimes imperceptible, are the so-called secret ingredients: some add a pinch of lemon, others a different type of flour.
In Capreno of Sori
From Friday 26th to Sunday 28th July in Capreno, a hamlet of Sori in the Golfo Paradiso, the appointment with the Patronal Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso returns, which will take place in the Bosco della Parrocchia di San Pietro, a beautiful and relaxing place surrounded by greenery. Every evening from 7 pm, well-stocked food stands will be open with the preparation of local specialties including the proverbial cheese focaccette, which alone are worth a visit. Every evening, next to the traditional menu, there will be a specialty: on Friday, stockfish, on Saturday, asado. The key day, from a religious point of view, will be Sunday, when in the evening, around 8:30 pm after Vespers, the Procession will start through the streets of the town, accompanied by the traditional tirade of mascoli and the Banda Musicale di Sussisa. To close, a great fireworks display.
Tigullio and Portofino
Roast and lumache
At the beginning of July There are two in particular tasty festivals that traditionally attract gourmets. These are the asado festival that takes place from 4 to 6 July in Chiavari with dinners and after-dinner music. And then the famous one of Villa Tassani in Sestri Levante, dedicated to the traditional dish of snails: from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 July
The world in an anchovy
The toil of fishermen, the history of a difficult land, ancient fishing boats, women who set the table. The history of Liguria is all in a plate of bagnun. And the recipe, perhaps a thousand years old, is born every time in Riva Trigoso, a fishing village, where boats are arranged on the western beach, where bathers are side by side with the same nets and boats of the early twentieth century. Q Rediscovered also thanks to those of the Bagnun Committee: volunteers who once a year give life to the food festival dedicated to the fishermen’s dish. For Friday 19th and Saturday 20th July the famous festival is scheduled, with distribution of the anchovy-based dish starting at 8 pm. In sight, as is tradition, about ten thousand portions to be distributed.
Party for the station
Three days of celebrations, in Sestri Levante, to celebrate the centenary of the railway station. The event is scheduled for the next Friday 26th, Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th July. The program proposed by the members of “O Leûdo” also includes convivial moments such as an evening dedicated to Bruno Lauzi, a musical initiative on the history of the train in American literature, an evening dedicated to young people and one to Argentine tango, a show for children, the publication of a book on the history of the station, guided tours, exhibitions of a historic train, historical and photographic exhibitions, donation of a defibrillator by the Lions of Sestri Levante and other events. The program includes the Fanfare of the Bersaglieri of Asti, exhibition to the public of a historic train, a large Model of the railway station.
Cinque Terre and Gulf of Poets
Lerici, the lair of the Turks
July 12th and 13th two days of celebration, organized by the Pro Loco of San Terenzo, which revolve around the historical reenactment of “La Tana dei Turchi”. It begins on Friday 12 July with “la tana dei bambini”, an unmissable event dedicated to the little ones.
But the most anticipated event is scheduled, as usual, on Saturday evening, July 13: a dive into the past at the Marina di San Terenzo, to await the spectacular landing of pirates from the sea, to recall a historic (or legendary) attack by the Turks in the 15th century. The brave Santerenzini, entrenched in the castle, put the attackers to flight, but a lifeboat of unfortunates failed to set sail and, according to tradition, their bodies still lie unburied in the cave that, since then, has been called “Tana dei Turchi”. Music and fireworks to follow!
I raise the FThis is from the Sea
On July 24th and 25th, on the occasion of San Giacomo, Levanto immerses itself in a cheerful medieval dimension with a Borgo e Valle historical parade starting from the church of San Rocco and then going through the streets of the center. The parade is made up of musicians, flag-wavers and the medieval court so there are all the damsels, the lords of the court, the prince and princess. In the evening, a show of flag-wavers by the Borgo e Valle historical groupe: the musicians perform a sort of historical reenactment of the games that were played at court in the Middle Ages right in front of the court of the prince and princess. On July 25th at 9 pm, procession of the Confraternity of San Giacomo with crucifixes together with the Borgo e Valle historical group with musicians, flag-wavers and court. The procession will end on the Pietra seafront where you will see the fireworks display.
Muscle Festival
In Cadimare, a hamlet of the municipality of La Spezia, Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st July The protagonists are the mussels, or muscles as they are called here, with the Muscle Festival. The festival aims to subsidize the seaside village to participate in the rowing competitions of the Palio del Golfo della Spezia and maintain the maritime and sporting traditions of the area. In the evenings, the kitchen and food stalls are open (from 7:30 pm) and the cuisine is typical local seafood (penne with scampi, spaghetti with seafood, fried food, anchovies with lemon, etc.) but the strong dishes they are: spaghetti with muscles, stuffed muscles, muscles marinara style, muscle fritters and sgabei.
Levanto Sea Festival
