Festivals

I'm definitely looking forward to Italian festivals. Everyone knows about the feasts associated with the church and the saints, but I was doing some research the other day, and man, Italy has a feast for everything.

There are feasts for different types of food mostly. The Sagra dei Gnocchi is a gnocchi festival in Teolo. I read that almost 1500 pounds of potatoes go into the gnocchi at the festival. I can't imagine eating that much gnocchi, it's too heavy. The Sagra del Carciofo is a festival of artichokes. Might have to check that one out, artichokes are delicious. Other various cheese and wine festivals occur throughout the year as well.

Then I found some...let's say, different festivals. The Sagra dei Garagoi is dedicated to sea snails. They're usually cooked in tomato sauce with plenty of pepper, and the locals say that the best way to eat them is to take a sip of wine every seven snails. Sounds a little OCD to me, but I'll oblige. There's a national watermelon eating contest near Parma every year. And I don't dare miss the Sangra dell'Anguilla. That's a festival celebrating eels; marinated, fried, stuffed, any way you like it. Mmm...eel.