A Pick of Weird and Wonderful Festivals in Italy.

Italy is well-known for its mouth-watering cuisine, breath-taking driving roads, and stunning scenery. Hidden beneath all of this, every town, village or district has its oddities. This is especially true when it comes to festivals in Italy. See a different side to this wonderful country with our selection of unusual events in Italy.

Battle of the Oranges

Regarded as the biggest food fight in Italy, the Battle of the Oranges takes place in the town of Ivrea each year. It’s definitely the place to head for a dose of vitamin C. Thousands of citizens are divided into a series of nine orange throwing teams. They then commence to battle it out and violently pelt oranges at each other. The origin of the orange festival dates back to medieval times and is said to honour the city’s defiance against a tyrant whose plan backfired and he ended up decapitated. Unless you’ve planned ahead and joined a team you can only spectate but its best to wear a red hat so you don’t get zapped by zest, unable to retaliate!

Festa del Cornuto

A town nearby to Rome hosts this annual event, the name of which translates to ‘Festival of Horns’. The horns are said to be a symbol for having been cheated on by a partner. Anyone with a partner who has played-away can adorn a set of horns and partake in the parade through the city to seek consolation from onlookers, whilst floats host miniature plays of heartbreak. For some it’s a place to meet people, but it just sounds bizarre to us!

Palio del Papero

The Duck Festival, referred to locally as Palio del Papero is a race of quacking contestants. Held annually since 1982, the event is hosted in a town nearby to Pisa and sees ducks from four local districts; Il Borgo, Fondo di Scesa, Buecchio and Fornacino race, or rather waddle, as fast as they can to the finish line. Food stalls and a parade are other highlights of this ducking display.

Although not strictly a festival, Calcio Storico deserved to be mentioned as it stands to be one of the bizarre and brutal events in Italy. With a history of almost 500 years, it is described as a mix between football, rugby and bare knuckle boxing. Two teams of 27 men dress in period costume and battle it out on the sand-pit pitch for 50 minutes. The team with the most points (accrued by scoring goals at either end of the pitch) wins. The game has 6 referees and is not to be watched by any who don’t like the sight of blood.

Have you been to any of these festivals? If so, share your experience in the comments below.