Festivals and Events in Barga

Festival and Events in Barga

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Of course, what you don't expect is to find a festival for the most famous typical dish of Great Britain, and this is in Barga, on top of a Tuscan hill. Throughout the year in Tuscany there are numerous festivals, and Barga, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy, as such recognized, is no exception. And so it is that among the most usual Tuscan, with its rides and medieval costumes or celebrations of the seasonal harvest, we also find those who, like Barga, find in the combination of products such as Chianti & Ketchup, their cultural identity. That is: weeks of fishing, chips, good wine and lots of beer.

The Fish & Chips Festival in Barga attracts many visitors to this corner of Tuscany. They are curious tourists, Italian but also Scots, English, Americans and Australians in particular. From the end of July, the Fish and Potato Festival is celebrated as the truest Scottish tradition commands.

But what is the origin of this link between Barga and Scotland? It all began with the Duke of Argyll, on holiday in Tuscany in 1890. He decided to use local workers to ask them to work on his property in Scotland. More families followed and by the end of World War I, there were already about 4000 Italians in Scotland.

Today there are estimated to be no less than 30,000 Italian descendants in Scotland, among them we also find singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini, whose family, originally from Barga, owns (nenche a word) a fish and chips shop in Paisley, just outside Glasgow. Between the docks of the port in Scottish towns such as Ayr, Largs and Greenock, Italians began selling fish and chips in winter and ice cream in summer, thus creating a culinary culture that continues in those places today. Some of the emigrants then returned to Barga, many of them retired and, as a tribute to their homeland, some thirty years ago they gave life to this festival, now celebrated as a moment of union between different cultures.

During the summer the most Scottish city in Italy becomes even more lively, when art and music are the masters and that happy "je ne sais quoi" that belongs only to places with a special soul.

The Barga Jazz Festival in August offers one more reason to visit the Tuscan village. It was founded in 1986 as a composition and arrangement competition for jazz orchestra and has been for about 18 years that every year involves the participation of a famous musician, more than competitions such as the International Arrangement and Composition Competition for Jazz Orchestra, the Barga Jazz Contest, and educational activities.

Other events connected to the jazz festival are also events, including Live in Barga, in July, also known as the Piazzette Festival, a festival of live music, very well attended. Last year, 2017, the summer in Barga saw more than 70 live music concerts in 2 weeks to entertain locals and tourists; not only music, but also gastronomy, artistic events and exceptional cultural offers, such as the literary festival Between the lines of Barga.

The Opera Barga Festival is a lyrical festival, which is always held in July. It was founded in 1967 by Peter Hunt and Gillian Armitage together with Peter Gellhorn and Lorenzo Malfatti. The venue of the performances is the beautiful Teatro dei Differenti. The event aims to perform works of the Baroque era in particular, with young artists and also famous names such as the Welsh opera tenor Dennis O'Neill and the bass-baritone, John Del Carlo.

In November it is Barga Castagna's turn, when the town becomes the capital of the chestnut: there is a gastronomic route around Barga, and also guided tours, including the one to the farm of the Pegnana witch, in the middle of the forest of chestnut trees.

And in this regard, the Befana in Barga is celebrated very seriously if you did not know. The festival is celebrated on 5 and 6 January and everything starts in a wooden house, in the locality of Pegnana, on the mountain Barga, surrounded by a picturesque forest of chestnut trees. The protagonists of the festival are always children, who dressed up as witches go from house to house along the streets of the village to ask for questing, singing traditional songs. In the evening, the great meeting with the citizens, gathered all together around a large bonfire in Angelio Square.

There are also parties for the Carnival in Barga, as well as Halloween, while it deserves attention, at the end of February, the one called Baccanale di Barga, traditional appointment Barghigiano to celebrate the carnival. In December it is the turn of Barga Cioccolata, first weekend of January, one of the most delicious festivals in Garfagnana and the whole province of Lucca.

Among other events, do not miss Garfagnana in Giallo, a three-day event together with the cities of Lucca and Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, a literary festival with writers of the noir series, police and yellow in general.

A settembre è la volta della Sagra della Polenta e Uccelli, in zona Filecchio, frazione di Barga, con numerosi stand gastronomici, balli e orchestra dal vivo,  più premi e sfilate di trattori.

In September it is the turn of the Festival of Polenta and Birds, in the area Filecchio, hamlet of Barga, with numerous food stands, dances and live orchestra, more awards and tractor shows.

During the summer there are numerous exhibitions in the various ancient buildings of the village, including photographic and cultural exhibitions in general. Among these, those organized in the Church of the SS Crocifisso, in the Saletta of Via Pontevecchio, in the Palazzo Pancrazi, the Town Hall, the Theatre of Differenti, in the Museum The Rooms of Memory, or those organized in honor of Giovanni Pascoli in the town of Castelvecchio Pascoli. On August Sundays, there is also a market for handicrafts, antiques and typical products.

The 15th and 16th of August is the turn of the traditional Fair of San Rocco and Santa Maria, with hundreds of stalls of various goods at affordable prices. An essential appointment for the people of Barga (from 08.00 to 22.00).