Experience Sicily

Tag: ferragosto

  • September 8 Marks A Rebirth

    September 8 is considered the birthday of the Blessed Mother by the Catholic Church. As a result, throughout Sicily this week, there are festivals to celebrate the Madonna. It’s not clear why this date was officially chosen as such; however, let’s consider the cycle for cultivating grain — an essential crop for sustaining life in…

  • Buon Ferragosto From Monte Cofano

    Buon Ferragosto! (The town beach at Custonaci at the foot of Monte Colfano)

  • The Sea (Or Mountains) For Ferragosto

    Buon Ferragosto! Ferragosto is the most important holiday of the year for Italians after Christmas and Easter. Synonymous with thoughts of the sea and the mountains (i.e. Vacation), the name Ferragosto is the more common name for the Catholic Feast of the Assumption which occurs annually on August 15.

  • Ferragosto Eve

    Buon Ferragosto! Forget trying to get any business done in Italy until next week sometime! This evening, the official kick off of Ferragosto, means friends hanging out, catching up, and enjoying time together late into the night–many sleep on the beach and others hold barbecues in the mountains. Although, I’m not in Sicily right now,…

  • Return To Sicily For The Harmony Of Ferragosto

    Ferragosto is upon us! And that means throughout Sicily (and Italy) there are feasts, music festivals, and gatherings of all sorts, like Ypsigrock (pictured) that took place over the weekend in Castelbuono, Palermo province. My cousin Filippo attended, and he sent me this photo of one of my musician heros, Alfio Antico, who performed on…

  • The Beach at Mondello, Back In The Day

    Antique postcard, Mondello (the beach resort of Palermo)

  • Thank The Great Mother

    Ferragosto is so closely associated with “mare o monte,” the sea or the mountains–where Italians spend this national holiday–that many forget the origins why they have the day off! August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption, the day Catholics celebrate when the Virgin Mother ascended body and soul into Heaven. This image, “Dormitio Virginis,”…

  • Buon Ferragosto!

    Earlier today I had my weekly Skype lesson with my Italian language teacher in Caserta, near Naples. After our lesson, my teacher Vittorio was on the way to the sea to meet up with his friends for Ferragosto, the most important holiday of the year for Italians after Christmas and Easter. Ferragosto is the more…

  • The Assumption: Celebrating the Virgin Mother’s Life

    August 15, a national holiday in Italy, marks the Feast of the Assumption, the day that the Virgin Mother ascended body and soul into Heaven. Thoughout Sicily it is celebrated in various ways, most often with processions, festivals, and gatherings with near and dear ones at the sea or in the mountains.  The Assumption is…