Wicked Travels Fall 2015 | Page 26

Seafood Festival - Sagra del Pesce

The biggest sagre are flamboyant affairs. In Camogli on the coast between Genoa and Portofino in Liguria, locals show their enthusiasm for seafood at the Sagra del Pesce (second Sunday of May) by cooking it in the world’s largest frying pan. The festival itself dates back to just after the Second World War when the majority of the town’s fishermen went out to sea and were greeted on return by their wives and a huge feast of fresh fish. Today the pan is set up in the Piazza del Colombo, and the feast is a fry-up of three tons of seafood over the course of the festival for the appreciative crowds.

Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Biano d’Alba – White Truffle Festival

Other big productions include the Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba – the white truffle sagra in Piedmont that runs on weekends from October to mid-November and draws an international crowd of foodies to cheer for the famous pungent ingredient. Alongside the truffle market and fair, there is plenty of entertainment, including parades, concert nights, food stands, white truffle walks for tourists, a donkey race and the truffle world auction.