Con alegrezza… al calar de lo sole!

Those who have the good fortune to be in Catania this coming up weekend will have the chance on Sunday September 6 to participate in a small but promising medieval fair to be held at the Ursino Castle.

Outside of the castle, starting at 9 a.m.,  a medieval hamlet will be reconstructed and will include include figures from courtly life as well as common folk which will recreate the ambiance of having stepped back in time. Parades, dances, drum groups as well as musicians, minstrels and jesters on wooden sticks, fencing demonstrations with ancient medieval weapons.

Artisans will also demonstrate practical working techniques, while a medieval market will allow visitors to make purchases of items recalling a past age. Wandering shows will entertain the public throughout the market.

Finally, at noon, inside the castle, visitors will enjoy the concert by Compagnia La Giostra which will present their latest album “Con alegrezza… al calar de lo sole!” (With good cheer… as the sun sets”). It will be an occasion for the Sicilian group to finally perform in their own native land at the end of a long summer tour at medieval fairs across Europe!

The event is part of a wider organized program called the Itineraries of Federico II of Svevia.

We’re very tempted to hop on a plane to Catania… but in any case, if you’re in the area don’t miss this event!

You can read more information on the official page »

We went for the first time this last Saturday to the medieval festival held in the village of Roccatederighi. We had visited the small town perched on a rock last autumn on our trip to the upper Maremma hill area in Tuscany and we had remained enchanted (you can read our post from back then here). We had heard of this special festival held in August every year and resolved to go back this summer.

The festival has been held for a few years now and goes from Friday to Sunday on the first or second weekend in August. Together with the Palio dei Ciuchi (Donkey race held on the 14th of August), it represents the main event for the town of Roccatederighi.

We didn’t know what to expect, we honestly thought it might be little more than a local town fair with aspirations of becoming a medieval festival. It was a handy excuse to return to Roccatederighi and to the Locanda nel Cassero in the nearby Civitella Marittima, an excellent small restaurant we had enjoyed discovering on our last trip (if excuses are needed to enjoy fine dining)

We soon had to rethink our expectations as we saw the large amount of people the event had attracted from the surrounding area (as well as from further afield, including us). Beyond the ancient door, the small village was overflowing with both local residents and visitors.

Shortly after we arrived the festival’s entertainment – jesters and minstrels, musicians, flag throwers, swordsmen and more – marched to the beat of drums through the ancient door. It was then we realized the event’s organizers had planned things in grand style – over 50 artists were present, a few we had already seen at other medieval events in Tuscany and many more we soon had the pleasure to enjoy for the first time.

The entrance fee was 7 euros, a reasonable price considering the wide variety of entertainment that was present. For the festival, you can have fun exchanging euros for the fiorino coins used in past times and paying with that everywhere although we soon found out most stands and shops gladly accepted euros as well.

We followed the parade through the village and on to the “Vallone”, a large meadow found below the rock on which Roccatederighi is built on. The path takes you through some rocky terrain which wasn’t exactly easy to walk on (particularly with medieval shoes!) but which was certainly a striking additional feature to the festival. All of the artists performed their first show of the evening in the meadow and the flag throwers had enough space to show us their mastery of waving, throwing and catching flags in synchronized form.

One of the major strengths of the festival was the setting offered by Roccatederighi itself, which is not only a charming medieval village but a village embedded on the spur of a rock that keeps showing up around and in between homes and public buildings and which created a very unique scenario. The night exhibitions could also count on an appropriate and suggestive background: the stage was the square in front of the small ancient Church of San Martino and the public had to sit on the large mountain stones that are visible right in front of the church and square.

Among the artists, which were all introduced in rhyme by the skilled Messer Lurinetto, we found Giullare Nespolo and the Pres du Plop with their strong man show to be particularly funny and entertaining. Entertainment for the younger ones was also appropriately provided by Alfonso the Karacongiolo. We missed the shows by Compagnia dei Ciarlatani, as often happens when there are many attractions at a festival. Musical entertainment was by the group Laus Veris and the Errabundi Musici group whom we liked and whose music made us want to kick our heels together. Playing as they wandered through the streets made this a bit difficult, maybe on another occassion it will be easier to do so.

The improvised duels by the Mos Ferri company from Rieti were enthralling, while the Indian dancing war fights by the Maruti Kalari group were spectacular even if a bit exotic in the context of the Middle Ages. Even more out of context was the great contortionist Dino whose show had even less ties to medieval times. The shows were a big part of the festival while the musicians traveled through the village and played in the small squares without actually performing in the main square.

An aspect where the festival could improve on future editions is the medieval characterization of the event. It was our impression that there were few residents truly dressed in medieval style but that could just be a sign of the early stages of the festival itself. This aspect is important in making everyone feel as if they have stepped back in time. Another aspect would be to work on improving the variety of food that was available: the three “tavernas” we found all had the exact same menu.

As a whole the village festival was a fun medieval event held within a very special setting and as such has little to envy of the more famous historical events of this type.

While we take a bit of time to set down our impressions of the medieval festival in Obidos, you can read our article on this year’s medieval festival in Monteriggioni which we attended mid-July.