About Abruzzo

Category: Festa!

bride and groom, Ju Catenacce

Festa!

Ju Catenacce

Wedding Bells in Scanno Something is in the air in Scanno.  Maybe not love exactly, but certainly a frisson of excitement.  And is that wedding bells I hear? Ju Catenacce is about to begin. It’s the eve of Ferragosto. The terrace of the Caffè Santa Maria in Piazza San Rocco is filling up. The square is confined on one side by a church, and people are bagging places with a good view of the chapel door. Across the square, at the open end of the terrace, narrow streets meander up and away towards the centre of town, and people are lining up there too. At last, down the road...

Boat carrying statue of Sant'Andrea passing under the Ponte del Mare, Pescara 0

Festa!

Festa di Sant’Andrea

Years ago, on my return from the beach one sweltering July day, I told my mother-in-law what I’d seen – just off the coast, a procession of fishing boats, festooned with gaily fluttering banners. (I swear I’d also heard fireworks. Fireworks? In broad daylight?) Ah yes, she said, without turning around from the pasta pot. Today’s the Festa di Sant’Andrea. Now, being Scottish, I know perfectly well that St. Andrew’s feast day is on 30 November and not in July. But I said nothing. This was my mother-in-law. And anyway, what difference does it make if St. Andrew’s Day is celebrated in Scotland on 30 November with ceilidhs and haggis,...