They are so many ancient traditional holidays in Italy, especially in Spring and Summer. One of the most famous is the Festa dei Ceri in Gubbio, a town of Umbria. This catholic celebration takes place every year on the 15 May to honour the city’s patron saint, Sant’Ubaldo Baldassini, and dates back to Middle-Age.

Ceremonies occur all the day but the most important and impressive moment is the “Corsa dei Ceri” (the Ceri’s race). The “cero” is a four-meter sculpted wood pillar standing on a H-shaped wood board which can be carried by people on their shoulder. Each structure weighs almost 300kg. They are three “ceri” and a little statue of a Saint is fixed on the top of each one: Sant’Ubaldo, San Giorgio and Sant’Antonio.

Florence is sometimes considered as a city frozen in time, buried under its magnificent past. The festival Fabbrica Europa was born in 1994 in order to “modernize” it. This cultural event recognised and supported by the European Union brings the city into the present, allowing it to host every type of contemporary arts.

On this 21th edition dedicated to the reflection on the human condition and on the contemporary memory, a lot of theater, dancing and music events are organised at the Stazione Leopolda, the Festival headquarter, but also in other places in Florence such as the Nuovo Teatro dell’Opera, the Ex-Chiesa San Carlo dei Barnabiti, the French Institute or the Murate.

Labour Day is one of the most celebrated annual holidays in the world. It was established to honour the workers who fought for the rights that we today consider obvious and guaranteed, at least in the major part of western countries. The tradition in Rome is the “Concerto del 1° Maggio” which happens every year since 1990 and that we suggest you to see at least once in your life. Organized by the biggest Italian trade unions (CGIL, CISL e UIL) along with Roma’s municipality, it takes place in piazza San Giovanni.

During this day, the “eternal city” doesn’t look that old. The 1st May Concert is indeed mostly intended for young people which participate in many (between 600.000 and 800.000 each year). The concert is free, that’s why everybody can join the crowd staying there from the afternoon until late at night.

In our modern western societies, craft industry still holds a strong place as a symbol of humanity and tradition. We can particularly notice this through the success obtained by craft fairs in whole Europe. Florence is lucky to host each year in April an important event of this kind: the Mostra Internazionale dell’Artigianato.

The 78th edition is happening this year with Iran as the Country Guest of Honor. With 55.000 sq.m, the Fortezza da Basso welcomes 800 exhibitors coming from 55 countries and from each region of Italy. Around 140.000 visitors are expected and, if you are one of them, you will have the opportunity to see and buy culinary specialties, clothes, jewels, furniture, decorative or useful items from every part of the world. China, Vietnam, Japan, Morocco or India are some of the numerous represented countries.

The city of Pisa is mostly famous because of its Leaning Tower, but they are other things to see in this antic Maritime Republic. In the following lines we propose you a tour to visit in one day the longtime rival of Florence.

Few people know that the famous Tower, which construction began in 1173, was aimed to be the campanile (a freestanding bell tower) of the adjacent Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta. It began to tilt while it wasn’t even finished because of the sandy soil making its base unstable. These edifices situated on the Piazza del Duomo (renamed Piazza dei Miracoli by the poet Gabriele D’Annunzio) together with the Baptistery and the Camposanto (a 1278-cemetery) are unfortunately among the last medieval monuments of Pisa. Indeed, the city suffered a lot from the Allied and German bombings at the end of World War Two.