September festivals in Abruzzo

A brief roundup of the various feste in Abruzzo this month, from the traditional, to the modern, and the frankly bizarre! As ever, we endeavour to get dates right but they CAN change. So please check before you go. 4 September in Pacentro sees the Day of Madonna di Loreto, a celebration dating back to the 1500s, with the young folk taking part in the traditional barefoot race of the ‘corsa degli zingari’. Liscia has its patron saint’s festival early in the month, with a parade of floats.

The grape harvest (or Vendemmia) sees grape festivals all around, including those at Sulmona and L’Aquila. There is the grape and wine festival at Giuliano Teatino mid month. The first Sunday in September sees the Mullet festival in Ortona (fried fish rather than dodgy haircuts). A big communal fish fry in the open air, plus fireworks and live music. The 8th sees Lanciano’s Madonna del Ponte day, with the marvellous Parade of Donativi, where local peasants carry traditional copper basins on their heads. Castiglione Messer Marino has Saint Maria del Monte’s Day (combined with the chicken festival) on the 11-12 September. Ripateatina has its saint’s day, plus hog roast on the second Sunday of September. Altino has Saints Cosma and Damiano’s Day with its traditional parade on 26-27, and Forcella its Mercy Festival and Ballo dell’Insegna on the 24th. Vasto has San Michele’s Day (fireworks) on 28-30th.

Major dates in the month of September in Italy include the start of the hunting season.

 

Banca directors to take the long walk?

Could we be witnessing a ’sea change’ (sorry but we use the phrase the way Shakespeare and Prospero intended) in Italian corporate responsibility? Over the last weeks the leasing company Banca Italease went from bank to junk bank as its shares plummeted following a disastrous foray into derivatives bets that didn’t pay off. Untangling itself from the fiasco has cost Italease €610m. Now the Bank of Italy (Italy’s central bank, based in Milan) has ordered all the directors to resign. If this were the US there would be a very long trial, if it were Japan, the suits would probably opt for hara kiri, as it’s Italy they’ll probably ignore it and carry on regardless … but we wait with interest.

 

Italian politician uses ambulance as taxi

Just how stupid ARE Italian politicians? An Italian senator’s boast on television that he cheated traffic jams in Rome during a visit by United States President George W. Bush by calling an ambulance, may cost him a court appearance, officials said yesterday.

Conservative opposition senator Gustavo Selva risked being late for a TV interview on Saturday because streets around the Senate were blocked for Bush’s visit. So he dialled 118 for an ambulance asking to be rushed to his heart specialist - giving the TV studio’s address. “I used an old journalist’s trick to get here,” he boasted on live television.

 

Berlusconi group posts profits

Despite his travails in court, ageing cruiseship crooner and occasional international statesman Silvio Berlusconi had something to smile about yesterday. Berlusconi’s company, Italy’s biggest private broadcaster Mediaset, said on Tuesday it expected consolidated operating profit in 2007 to be above last year’s, which was hurt by tough competition in advertising.

 

Pope names new head of Church in Italy

Vatican City - Pope Benedict appointed Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco to the powerful post of president of the Italian Bishops Conference on Wednesday, the Vatican said.

 

Italian gambling laws too tough

Shares in bookmakers have risen after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that Italian gambling laws were too restrictive.