Territory
Food festivals in Tuscany: the calendar of authentic flavours
The most important Tuscan food festivals by season: from wild boar festival to truffle, wine and bistecca. The gastronomic calendar of Tuscany.
Tuscan sagre: tradition or folklore?
The word “sagra” in Tuscany provokes different reactions. For some it is a village festival with average-quality food, tinned beer and accordions playing from the speakers. For others it is the only place where you still eat wild boar the way grandmother made it, where the wine comes from the cantina of the neighbouring hamlet and where the community gathers around the fire as it did a hundred years ago.
The difference between the two categories exists, and it is real. Not all Tuscan sagre are equal - some are gastronomic events of a high level, others are commercial events that use the name “sagra” to attract tourists without offering anything authentic. The skill of the curious visitor lies in being able to distinguish between the two.
Authentic sagre in Tuscany share some common characteristics: they are held in small borghi (not in cities), they focus on a specific and seasonal local product, the food is prepared by local volunteers according to traditional recipes, and the proceeds often go towards supporting the community. They are the most direct expression of that culture of territory that Tuscan cuisine brings to the table every day.
Spring: oil and legume festivals
The Tuscan sagre season begins in spring, after the winter break. The first to reopen are the festivals dedicated to new oil - actually it is the oil from the previous autumn that reaches full maturation, but spring is the season when tastings are held in the mills and olive-growing villages.
Wild asparagus festival (April-May): San Gimignano and the Val d’Elsa areas have festivals dedicated to field wild asparagus - green, thin, with an intensely bitter flavour that has nothing in common with cultivated asparagus. Spring asparagus festivals are among the most attended in the territory.
Artichoke festival: Tuscan artichokes, in particular those from Chiusure and the Sienese area, are the subject of spring festivals with frittate, artichokes alla toscana and stuffed preparations. A product that in May still has weeks of season ahead.
Legume festival: in the Garfagnana and on Monte Amiata, spring festivals celebrate zolfini beans, black chickpeas and mountain lentils - the poor legumes of Tuscan peasant cooking that have found a new audience among tradition enthusiasts.
Summer: from the bistecca festival to the fish festival
Summer is the season of the largest and most attended sagre. Many Tuscan borghi organise summer festivals as the main event of the year - with days of preparation, volunteers in the kitchen from the morning, and outdoor tables among the medieval walls.
Bistecca festival in Cortona (August): one of the most famous in Italy - thousands of Chianina bistecche grilled over charcoal in the historic centre of Cortona. It is not an intimate event, but the quality of the meat is guaranteed and the atmosphere of a medieval square lit up with the smoke from the grills has an undeniable charm.
Fish festivals on the coast: Livorno, Viareggio and the small towns of the Tuscan coast organise cacciucco festivals, mixed fried fish and octopus. They are authentic - the fish is caught locally, the cooks are often the fishermen themselves.
Summer truffle festival (July-August): summer truffle (Tuber aestivum) is less prized than the autumn white, but the festivals celebrating it in the San Miniato and Valdera area are pleasant and accessible.
Autumn: truffle, wine and chestnuts
Autumn is the richest season for Tuscan sagre - the territory offers its best products at this time, and gastronomic festivals multiply.
White truffle festival in San Miniato (October-November): the most important white truffle fair in Tuscany, held in the castle of San Miniato over three October-November weekends. Tastings, fresh truffle market, tasting menus with white truffle in the borgo’s restaurants.
Chianti Classico Expo in Greve in Chianti (September): the most important event of the Chianti Classico denomination, with direct tastings from producers, historic verticals and the opportunity to buy directly from the winery. It is not a sagra in the traditional sense, but it is the most important autumn food and wine event in the Chianti.
Chestnut festival: in the Garfagnana, on Monte Amiata and in the Casentino, the October chestnut festivals celebrate an ingredient that fed generations of Tuscan mountain dwellers - roasted chestnuts, castagnaccio, chestnut flour polenta, necci with ricotta.
Winter: the season of wild boar festivals
Winter, contrary to what one might think, is not a dead season for Tuscan sagre - it is the period of wild boar festivals, one of the gastronomic events most felt in the inland countryside.
Wild boar festivals (November-February): in the hunting areas of the Maremma, the Chianti, the Val di Cornia and the Metallifere Hills, wild boar festivals coincide with the hunting season. Wild boar is cooked in all traditional ways - ragù, umido, scottiglia - with local wine and unsalted Tuscan bread.
The winter wild boar festivals have a more intimate character than summer ones - tables indoors, wood-burning stoves, an atmosphere reminiscent of the village dinners of the past. They are among the most authentic in the Tuscan calendar.
How to choose an authentic sagra
Distinguishing an authentic sagra from a commercial one is not always easy, but there are some useful signals.
Positive signals: it is held in a small borgo; the celebrated product grows or is produced in the surroundings; there is at least someone who cooks “the way grandmother did it”; the wine is local; prices are popular; there is no professional uniformed staff but village volunteers.
Negative signals: it is held in a shopping centre or at a fair; the celebrated product comes from somewhere else entirely in Italy; prices are restaurant prices; there is a website with online booking but no connection to the local community.
Ristorante Alcide in Poggibonsi, with its territorial cooking, represents in a certain sense the philosophy of the best Tuscan sagre - local ingredients, traditional recipes, respect for timing and seasons. Only with the possibility of booking a table all year round.
Want to taste it for real?
At Ristorante Alcide you will find it on the table - made the right way, with fresh ingredients and the care of the Ancillotti family since 1849.
