Why it's the best way to delve into the local culture!
I always look with anticipation to the time of year of town festivities, gastronomic and wine fairs, and most of all sagre (festivals). The common denominator for all of them is the culinary aspect characterized by genuine, seasonal, and traditional food - naturally always accompanied by local wines and beverages. These culinary get-togethers are appealing because of the conviviality of the people. Eating together with a crowd either sitting at a table or strolling through the village from food station to food station is the essence of such celebrations. You eat and talk and eat and talk, moving from one dish to the next, savoring it to the core. It's also the opportunity to see old friends and meet new friends. Accordingly, sagre are among the most popular and well attended events among the local communities.
One. Sagre are easy to find
The Sagra is a local festival that takes place annually throughout Italy. Its origin has a religious background. In fact, sagre (plural) took place traditionally to celebrate the patron saint of a town. The root of the word sagra is "sacred". Recently sagre have also been used to celebrate the harvest or to promote local gastronomic products including wine and spirits. Attending a sagra is the best way to immerse yourself in the culture of the locals!
Italians love them. There must be a reason if they are widely publicized on walls around towns. This mode of publicity is the easiest way to find out where and when they take place. If you are in Italy in the summer and autumn, keep your eyes open for advertisements. Street posters are the most popular way to spread the word. Once you have found out when and where a sagra takes place all you have to do is go there. Often they occur in small towns and villages, and sometimes you may need to drive through winding narrow roads, but it is worth it. You also may have to be creative about parking since very often it is street parking.
Two. Local and traditional food
Sagre have a theme, and usually it refers to a seasonal local product. Hence in the summer fish, meat, and tomato festivals are some of the most recurrent examples. In the Fall, mushroom, chestnut, and extra-virgin olive oil festivals take place. In the Winter, frittelle (fried pastries), radicchio, and grappa (strong liquor from grapes) festivals are among the most attended followed by asparagus, focaccia and lemon sagre in the Spring. These are only a few examples - the list is much more extensive. Traditional homemade pasta festivals may be held in any season. Recently I have found myself to be in Tuscany during the Summer quite often and I have attended a number of sagre, particularly near the coast south of Livorno.
Sagra del caciucco
If you appreciate seafood and are open to new tastes and flavors, Sagra del Caciucco (caciucco festival) is the perfect chance to be exposed to a unique Tuscan seafood dish. Caciucco is a well known seafood stew of Livorno and its province. A traditional dish prepared with tomatoes, a variety of fish and mussels (among which octopus, king prawns, squids, cuttlefish, monkfish, and scampi), sprinkled with white wine and herbs. The stew is poured on top of toasted Tuscan bread before being consumed. The recipe is elaborate and it takes time to execute. Caciucco is served in gourmet restaurants in the province of Livorno; however, as I mentioned earlier, it is also possible to eat the stew at multiple festivals of caciucco - some are more popular than others. If you decide to attend a sagra away from touristic areas there are a couple of advantages; you'll only be with locals, the lines are shorter, and there is less waiting time to be served.
Sagra della bistecca
Tuscany is also well known for its red meat of Chianina breed cattle. Chianina has been raised in the regions of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio for over 2000 years and it is the tallest and heaviest breed of cattle. The famous Florentine steak or bistecca alla fiorentina comes from its meat. At sagra della bistecca (steak festival) in addition to a variety of meat dishes it is possible to taste Florentine steak. The steak is grilled and seasoned. It is a thick cut of T-bone, around 1 kg (2 lb) and served very rare - it can be shared among 2-3 people. At sagra della bistecca at Monteverdi Marittimo for example, you order your drinks and side dishes at the cashier and the steak at the grill area where you pay on the spot after they weight your cut of meat in front of you. The average cost for one steak is around 30 Euros.
Three. Great location
Sagre are often in characteristic areas of the city or in old small towns which makes the experience more pleasant and unique - a culinary outing combined with sight seeing. Being in such locations also means that traffic is very limited and once you enter the area where the sagra takes place it is completely absent.
A sagra's location is carefully chosen; therefore, it is in an area where it is possible to host big gatherings and cook both indoor and outdoor, often near public gardens and playground areas which makes it an appealing event for families. Children love having a chance to run around and play with other children at the playground while waiting for their evening meal. Once dinner is over, the historic borgo is only a few steps away at the top of the hill. An after dinner stroll is a good excuse to digest, visit a new place, and getting an ice-cream cone.
Four. On the budget
In addition to tasting traditional products and spending an evening immersed in local culture, sagre are affordable. Dishes and wine served at such gastronomic festivals may be found in restaurants as well but at a different cost. The advantage of having your lunch or dinner at a sagra is that food has a fair price. At sagre in Tuscany they do charge for coperto like at restaurants. You are basically paying for sitting at the table and being served even if you are eating from plastic dishes. However, your dinner cost will not equate to a restaurant dinner's cost. In other words, sagre are the cheapest way to taste traditional local recipes and that is another reason why Italians love them. It is always best to have cash - credit cards are seldom accepted.
Buon appetito!