Medieval festival in Staffoli

The medieval festival in Staffoli takes place on the 8th of September and is organized by the local shopkeepers. 

For this festival, every shop-owner sets up a stand outside his or her shop and sell its products. 

Almost all the inhabitants wear an old dress and they model in the historic parade. During the parade you can see animals, such as horses, sheep, chickens and donkeys. When the parade takes place, flag-wavers and also people who play drums and trumpets march through the village. 

In the main square there are some nice shows like the cutting of the head with the guillotine, performances with fire and theater performances.

During the festival, there are some strange characters like the fortune teller, prostitutes, the victims of the plague, knights and many others. 

For dinner you can try typical dishes prepared by the butcher's shop, by the supermarket and the fish shop. Every shop becomes a tavern. 

 Scarpellini Matilde 

Summer night in Montefoscoli

Summer night in Montefoscoli

Montefoscoli is a little village, the village where I live, and each year there is a festival.

Every year the topic of this festival changes, this is year the theme is “Live in Montefoscoli in the year 1900”

The inhabitants of Montefoscoli wear strange costumes and hairstyles, the women wear a long brown skirt and brown shirt, their hair is gathered in a chignon.

The men instead wear brown trousers and plaid shirts.

The whole village is festooned with bales of hay and olive tree branches and around Montefoscoli you can feel the atmosphere of  the early 20th century.

This year the festival was held on 20^th of August, but every year the date changes.

During the day there were performances, the inhabitants marched through Montefoscoli.

In the evening there was a dinner around the village, you could eat at very peculiar tables, bales of hay transformed in table and chair .. It was a fantastic idea! The people who came to eat found this thing amazing!

You could taste classic Tuscan foods, like “zuppa”(cabbage soup), “trippa” (tripe)  “tortellini alla montefoscolese” (tortellini with cream and tomatoes), “lasagne”, grilled bread and grilled meat; and delicious desserts like “tiramisu” (cocoa powder mascarpone, Italian cheese, and Pavesini buiscuits), “torta della nonna” (grandma's cake, with cream and pine-kernels).

After the dinner in the upper part of Montefoscoli some guys played the guitar and sang, instead in the lower part of the village some girls danced.

All those who went to Montefoscoli this day were happy, because by now no one organises this kind of festival any more! 

                                 Asia Giuliotti

Our patron saint: Santo Stefano.

In Cascine di Buti at the end of june, people celebrate Santo Stefano. Santo Stefano is the patron Saint of Cascine di Buti. The celebration starts in the evening and finishes during the night. The celebration takes place in the car park behind the "Misericordia"

In this day a lot of people play with other people in the different games for example  "the fortune wheel" or "treasure hunt".

They come from other towns to celebrate this day and to speak with friends and relatives. I love going to the celebration because there are my friends or other people that I know. During the celebrations people do performances such a singing, dancing or speaking about politics or telling jokes. At midnight there is a fireworks display. Every year fireworks are beautiful and spectacular and to see them is amazing. I love to celebrate Santo Stefano because he was important for my town and because he is important for the people who believe in him.

This is our patron Saint, it is important for our population.

Chiara Stefani

The Medieval festival in Montopoli

The Medieval festival in Montopoli

The "Festa Medievale" of Montopoli, in the province of Pisa, takes place every year on
the second weekend of September.For one day the village revitalizes the Medieval Age with walk-ons (figuranti), brass bands (bande), and people from the village, babies and elderly people, all dressed up in medieval costumes representing farmers, carpenters, washerwomen, musicians and also noble people. Parades and street shows entertain the visitors from dawn to sunset. You can see fascinating street shows and taste traditional Tuscan food from the many stalls all along the main road, as well as antiques and fine handcraft that comes from all over the region.

A significant event is the Archery competition that is played in the afternoon: the two districts of the village -upside and downside- challenge each other to win the “palio” , a rag with a painted image.

This event involves most of the inhabitant of Montopoli and attracts people coming from the villages nearby and many tourists. 

http://www.montopoli.net/index.php?c=3