FAQ

Choosing a sagra Choosing a sagra

Palaie, in Florence province. Hare festival (Sagra della Lepre). Hare stew (lepre in umido), a wonderful second course dish once rather common in hunting season, but now way less easy to find. A good reason to choose a sagra is the season. Sagra is about traditional food and this kind of dishes in the ancient times were prepared following a strict calendar, depending on the agriculture ...

Reaching a sagra Reaching a sagra

Seeing a poster of the sagra along the way is a confirmation that you are on the right way. Indeed, most of the sagras are organized in small villages or hamlets. A sagra is often the most important festive period of a community, so the place where it takes place must contain a lot of people: it can be a football field, a meadow or a big square. In cold seasons a hall, a ballroom ...

Parking Parking

That's another reason to try to get to a sagra early: sometimes it can be difficult to find a parking place. Some sagras have an huge attendance, so a big park is sometimes prepared, for instance, a flat field. Generally, you won't pay anything for the park, but it will be unguarded, and it's not a good idea to leave anything inside the car.

What to eat What to eat

Since a sagra is an event dedicated to a special food, a recipe, or some few recipes of traditional cuisine, the menu is focused on that matter. That's why quite everywhere the menu of a sagra has nothing to compare to the vastness of a restaurant's menu. Moreover, food is prepared by a staff of volunteers, which are local and usually live in the village where the sagra is held. These ...

What to drink What to drink

Wine will be quite everywhere a simple good wine, sometimes rather basic, but quite generally good. A sagra is a feast in a village, with dishes from the traditional Tuscan cuisine which was a peasant one. Back in the old times, peasants used to drink their own produced wine, a popular one. So in a sagra you will not find the rush to the stellar bottles common to some high level ...

The menu of a sagra The menu of a sagra

Let's now analyze the menu of a real sagra. We've chosen the Wild boar festival (Sagra del cinghiale) of Monteloro, a small hamlet in the municipality of Pontassieve, in the province of Florence. The menu of Monteloro sagra First courses Wild boar in Tuscany is often the basic ingredient in a sauce for a first course pasta dish. Or a second course dish, cooked for a long time ...

How to order dishes, finding a table, waiting, eating How to order dishes, finding a table, waiting, eating

Well, you took your time studying the menu and finally you made your decision. You decided to take, say, two first courses, two second courses, side dishes, 1 liter red wine, 1 liter natural water, and two desserts. So, now it's time to order! You have to queue and it may take a while to get to the cash, depending on the attendance. When it's your turn, you have to use all Italian words ...

Not only dinner or lunch Not only dinner or lunch

A sagra is a local feast, sometimes it's "the" local feast and usually, quite always, some entertainment is scheduled, especially after dinner. Traditionally, in many sagras a ballroom music concert starts around 9 pm or later in the evening. In Italian, this music is called "liscio" or "ballo liscio" and it's very popular among elders. Also disco music or ...