Sagre D'Asti

The second weekend of September the Sagre di Asti. is held.  A big food festival which hosts 45 local villages.  Each village sets up an elaborate booth in the Piazza del Campo Palio offering several dishes always paired with a glass of wine.  When you purchase a ticket for one of the dishes, you will be given a small bag to hang around your neck. This will very handily hold your wine glass. The Italians are geniuses!

Sagre are food festivals, sort of like a county fair, celebrating everything from a single ingredient to a variety regional specialties. Real good eats surrounded by laughter and celebration, and lots of wine. There are Sagre throughout the year, mostly at harvest time, all over rural Italy. The celebrations continue over a weekend and can include parades, flag throwing demonstrations, and live music. If you are interested in authentic Italian regional cuisine and culture, plan your next trip to Italy around a Sagre.

Asti's parade featured hundreds of participants in period costume. All aspects of life; from farming to harvest, stomping grapes, distilling grappa, weddings, funerals, children at play are represented.