Festival delle Sagre in Asti: flavours, villages and rural traditions

In September Asti becomes a large village of flavours. The Festival delle Sagre Astigiane, also known as Sagra delle Sagre, brings together the Pro Loco of the towns in Piazza Campo del Palio: each cuisine brings a part of its history to the city, to be shared around a dish and a glass of wine.

It is a celebration to be experienced calmly, between the houses of the gastronomic village and the streets of the centre. On Sunday morning the peasant parade adds flavor to the story of the territory: clothes, gestures, tools and crafts bring together today's Monferrato with its rural roots.

The Festival takes place in the second weekend of September, with the gastronomic village open from Saturday evening and events on Sunday. The heart of the festival is Piazza Campo del Palio; the parade passes through the streets of Asti.

The festivals are part of Asti September together with the Douja d'Or and the Palio di Asti. There are three different ways of getting to know the city: the cuisine of the villages, the culture of wine and the tradition of racing.

The gastronomic village and traditional dishes

Among the Pro Loco stands the journey begins with the flavours: agnolotti, tajarin, polenta, boiled meat with green sauce and desserts tell of a cuisine linked to the countryside. The recipes bring together family knowledge and local ingredients, bringing the character of the Asti villages to the streets.

Barbera rice, belecauda and rabbit agnolotti also find space in the history of the Festival. Let yourself be guided by the cuisines and aromas, alternating tastings with stops at the tables: the pleasure of the celebration is also sharing the meal and discovering the stories of the villages.

On Sunday morning the center of Asti comes alive with the Pro Loco procession. The figures in period clothing recall agricultural work, festivals and daily life in the countryside, accompanied by carts, tractors and tools of the trade.

The parade follows the rhythm of the seasons and transforms the streets into a collective story. For those arriving with their family it is an opportunity to recognize objects and gestures of the past; for everyone, an engaging way to encounter the memory of the Asti area.

The first edition was held on 8 September 1974 in Piazza Alfieri, on the initiative of Giovanni Borello. Thirteen Pro Loco brought the specialties of their cuisines to Asti, bringing together the spirit of the village festivals in the city.

In 1977 the parade and the logo designed by Antonio Guarene arrived, with the white chefs on the red background. The Festival has thus combined gastronomy with a story of rural civilization, preserved by the towns and people who make it live.

Dedicate part of the day to the squares and streets of the center of Asti, then extend your stay with a weekend in Monferrato. The walks and cycling routes allow you to change pace between the party in the city and the landscape of the hills.

You can continue towards Nizza Monferrato, Costigliole d'Asti or Moncalvo: the towns that host the festivals thus become stops to discover, including historic centres, wines and cuisine. The Douja d'Or is another invitation to explore the link between Asti and the local wines.

This article contains content adapted from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) licence. Source: Wikipedia – “Festival delle sagre astigiane”.

This adaptation uses the archived revision; contributors are listed in the article history. The photographs by Andrea Marchisio are from Wikimedia Commons and are available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 licence.

Source: official reference of the event.