Sagra season is over

Eat, dance and play games

This summer we have enjoyed going to several sagre in and around Ascoli Piceno but now the sagra season is over. La sagra is a unique Italian festival that combines music, games and of course food and many times they are in conjunction with a religious feast but they may simply focus on a type of food. There were so many in our area that we could have attended a different one every Saturday and Sunday this summer.

There is no charge to attend one of these festa but to eat you will need to pay, though the prices are remarkably low. The food is always fresh even though it is made in mass quantities and there is always an offering of local wine. There is the cassa where you place your order and pay then you head over to the food stand to get your food. Since the food is cooked to order you may have a short wait of five or ten minutes. The two of us could usually get a small feast for less than 20 euros.

There is always a sitting area where you eat community style sharing tables with others and the local kids come around and clean-up the tables. Many times we shared the bottle of wine we purchased with our meal with those nearby and had others offer us their wine. Food and wine always brings out the generosity in Italians.

There will be a band and an area cleared for dancing but this usually doesn’t start until later in the evening. Many sagre will also have a contest or raffle for prizes, which will always include food.

With the cooling temperatures of the fall season the sagre are over in our area but we will look forward to next summer’s sagra season.