Italian Clubs, Events, Lifestyle; Travel Italy

In Italian folklore, the night of August 10 — St. Lawrence’s day, is the night when dreams come true.
In this night, also known as the Night of the Shooting Stars, people use to watch the falling stars hoping their wishes will come true .

Wine lovers have also a chance to enjoy a major wine event this night. It’s “Calici di Stelle” — Goblets of Stars. During “Calici di Stelle” outdoor wine parties are held throughout Italy in spots usually located in wine-making areas.

Villas, castles, vineyards, squares in historic towns and cities, are the locations for Calici di Stelle, where you can enjoy tasting of local wines and specialties as long as art and craft shows, concerts and other cultural events.

A list of locations hosting Calici di Stelle can be found at http://www.cittadelvino.it/node/5801.

Umbria, with its many medieval hilltop towns, within a reasonable train ride from Rome, offers those who are visiting the Eternal city a chance for taking a break from the city. And if you love music or theatre, early July you have more reasons for heading to Umbria.

(photo by Sonietta46 - CC license)

The historic town of Spoleto, less than one hour and a half train ride from Rome, is hosting the Spoleto Festival, major event for visual arts featuring international stars of theatre, opera, dance, and cinema. The 2008 edition runs from June 27 through Juy 13.

The city of Perugia, with its Umbria Jazz Festival, offers a peaceful holiday in Umbria with a soundtrack of jazz, soul, blues, gospel, pop and salsa, with the historic settings used as venues. The festival, regarded as one of the major international jazz festivals in Europe, also offers a combination of good music and fine food with aperitifs, jazz lunches and dinners, jazz served with wine and gourmet cuisine in some of the restaurants in the town centre.
The 2008 edition runs from July 11 through Juy 20 (see Umbria Jazz programme).

- See interactive map of Umbria.
- Browse accommodation in Umbria.

The annual “Open Cellars“, major wine event held in late May in Italy, gives wine lovers a week-end of free wine tastings throughout the country.
Many wineries open the doors to visitors who come to sample the year’s vintage. Also they have a chance to know more about grape growing, vineyard management and wine making practices.

“Open Cellars”  – “Cantine Aperte” in Italian, is not for wine lovers only. Along with wine-tasting sessions, many other events are being scheduled in this week-end, ranging from gourmet events, to guided visits, cycling tours to countryside etc…. “Cantine Aperte” offers a big chance to combine wine tastings to excursions in wine-growing areas that usually also means wonderful countryside.

In order to know the list of wineries joining the event — open to public for this event, visit website www.movimentoturismovino.it .

Well known by hikers, Franciscan Trail of Peace in Umbria, is also a route of historic festivals. The two major centers on the route, Gubbio and Assisi (ending and starting point of the trail), host important historic festivals in May.

In Assisi, the medieval festival Calendimaggio, is held the first week of May (2008 edition from April 28 till May 10).

Gubbio hosts the famous “Festa dei Ceri” on May 15 (view a video of Ceri Festival - “the Ceri Race”).

Also the town of Valfabbrica, located midway between Assisi and Gubbio, features its own medieval festival, taking place the first week of September.

The route is one of the most mystically and historically significant in Italy; it offers unique landscapes and a lot of medieval sights to visit. Hikers use to break this 50 km trail into two or more parts.
Find out more of this tour. (View photos from Franciscan Peace Trail).