Every year, from Thursday through Saturday of the first week of May, a huge public festival known as "Calendimaggio" is celebrated in Assisi. The word, Calendimaggio, is a combination of "Calendi" for calendar or day, and "maggio" for the month of May. Residents,who have spent an entire year in preparation for the event, dress in medieval costumes and the town, as in medieval days, divides into two parts called "Sopra" for the upper part (blue) and "Sotto", the lower (red). The enthusiasm grows during the week before Calendimaggio and the usually quiet Assisi becomes a huge party atmosphere, with festivities that go well into the night.
Sometime in the 1200's, the two parties, always battling with each other (Sopra and Sotto) reached an agreement at the onset of Spring, but the battles began again for some reason. This is the basis for the re-enactments and the celebrations. In song, dance, and drama, the feud and rivalry is reproduced for Calendimaggio. A series of events, parades and contests begins on the first official day and is culminated on Saturday night. While all appearances are medieval, the festival actually did not start until 1926. In 1946, after an interruption by the war, the celebrations became more modern and in 1952, an effort was made to recover the 13th century costumes and music, including reproductions of the conflict between Sopra and Sotto.
So, last week was the biggie for Assisiani.
Our trip to Puglia was perfectly timed. The apartment is very close to the center of town, the "Comune," and our street leads directly into it, becoming a staging area for all that is done to create the re-enactments of the "Sotto" part of town. From Day One of our arrival, we heard hours on end of drum rehearsals, coming from the church of San Pietro, in the valley below us. Italians dine around eight o'clock in the evening so this meant late drumming which, at first blush, was charming, but as the weeks went on, the ear plugs came out. One can only imagine the cacophony during the week of the actual event! So, we headed back to Assisi just in time for the final day and skipped all the chaos (which I am sure was wonderful).
We had our bleacher tickets for the event on Saturday but left them home during our morning out. Dumbly, we figured that we could go home, freshen up, grab the tickets and head back out in time for the four o'clock "show". After all, we are only steps away from the Comune.....Big mistake. The entire area gets blocked off starting at 2:30. And there are no exceptions made to the rule that says if a barrier is up and there are security guards manning it, there is no way one can cross it. So, forget about getting from one end of the Comune to the other. Thankfully, I know my way around here very well so I told Joe to stay where he was, and off I went, circling the town, back to the apartment for the tickets and all that we needed for an afternoon of.....waiting.....and waiting. Just because a ticket says "4:00" for a start time, that means absolutely nothing when translated to Italian.
Around 4:45, the event finally got under way. This, being our second Calendimaggio, wasn't all that difficult to comprehend, but the performances (think of two Broadway shows) are still mind-blowing. It helps to know that the battle between the two sections of Assisi is being portrayed in music, dance and drama. From start to finish. The Costumes, the props, which include live trees, huge wooden structures, fires, adults, children, donkeys, horses and flowers, are testament to the hard work and dedication the people of Assisi have to this. Not one thing is plastic or artificial. Nothing is too difficult or out of the question. No hose carcass or iron platform holding four adult men is too heavy. Trust me, this is really something.
I have heard from an American, Calendimaggio described thusly: "Picture a Broadway show, combined with the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and add to that". Well put. Another of the things about Italy that captivate me. There are no surprises. Everything is a surprise.
And, by the way, this year's winner was SOTTO. That's us! Last year, we were in SOPRA and guess what, they won! We apparently are good luck charms.
No comments:
Post a Comment