Events
A characteristic village of the Amiata district, Roccalbegna is seen as a place of great interest and home to numerous important and interesting events each year.
Here is a list of the festivals held in Roccalbegna, from January to December:
January:
- “Fiaccolata per la Befana” (Torchlight for the Befana): with no literal English translation, the Befana is much like Santa Claus for the Italians and is depicted as an old lady who brings gifts on the day of the Epiphany. This festival honours this figure and is held in the town centre.
March:
- “Giornate del Volontariato” (Volunteer Day): an important event created to protect the nearby Natural Oasis of WWF with interventions, visits and excursions aimed to safeguard the territory.
May:
- “Giornata delle Oasi del WWF” (Day of the Natural Oasis of WWF): an event centered on learning about the territory and how to safeguard nature.
- “Passeggiata tra le Orchidee” (Walking amongst the Orchids): an interesting naturalistic event organized inside the Reserve of Rocconi. The festival aims to promote and celebrate the numerous variety of orchid that grow in the area.
July:
-“Festa della Birra” (Beer Festival): a traditional festival held in the streets of Roccalbegna.
-“Sagra dello Gnocco” (Festival of Gnocco): This festival celebrates gnocchi, a type of Italian dumping traditionally made from potato.
-“Festa di San Cristoforo” (Festival of St. Cristoforo): patron saint of the town.
August:
-“Festa del Ringraziamento” (Thanksgiving Festival): a local festival with deep traditions.
-“Sagra del Melatello e del Biscotto” (Festival of the Biscuit and Melatello): Melatello is a type of fruit foccacia typical to the area of Roccalbagna. The melatello celebrated here has an apple base, whilst the biscuits are savory with an aniseed flavour.
September:
- “Santissimo Crocifisso” (Saint Cross): a popular local event celebrating this religious symbol.
November:
-“Focarazza di Santa Caterina” (The Focarazza at Santa Caterina): festivities and celebrations for the saint with a traditional Palio of the Stollo. (a ‘palio’ is a banner or cloth won during some type of ancient race or contest, in this case a log burning race)
Must see events:
-“Focarazza di Santa Caterina” (The Focarazza of Santa Caterina): Seen as the most important event of the town, the festivities and celebrations in honor of this saint are organized in the month of November and consist of various shows and events held all over this beautiful Maremman village.
A symbolic celebration, it recreates the ancient traditions and customs of the past and has two major protagonists: fire and wood.
The festival is held on the night of 24th, the birthday of St. Catherine of Alexandria, a significant figure who suffered death by martyrdom.
During the festival, the parish priest of the town is followed by a procession of the inhabitants of Roccalbegna. The procession reaches the highest hill of the town, where the priest blesses a small pile of wood, attached to the middle of this wood pile is a pole, called “Stollo”.
The priest performs a mass, before setting alight the wood pile creating an evocative sight of red flames against a dark countryside.
When the flames begin to die down the main event of the night can commence: the palio.
A “palio” is a banner or cloth won during some type of ancient race or contest, in this case it is a race of courage and skill, where the participants compete to be the first to steal the “Stollo”, located in the heart of the still burning and smoking fire.
When a participant manages to steal the “Stollo”, he can take it back to the district he was representing. Here the pole is cut into the number of brave men who participated in the ritual and divided among them, offering each one the opportunity to bring a small piece of the “stollo” to their own home district, symbolizing victory.
Once the log arrives at its destination it is not put on display but burned in the fireplace before the ashes are scattered in the countryside as good luck charm for the harvest of the following year.