Enjoy delicious Italian produce at Spello’s Olive and Brushetta Festival

February in Italy is a month which marks transition, especially with the weather, changing from winds, grey skies and rain to the warm sunshine the country is so blessed with, though the transition can also be seen in the local cuisine.

The town of Spello in Umbria recognises one such transition with the Olive and Bruschetta Festival, which celebrates the olive harvest. Traditionally, the event takes place on the third Sunday of February, and so this year the event is expected to return on February 21.

Olives are one of the key staples of Italian cuisine, whether they’re made into olive oil for cooking with or for drizzling over dishes, or for using as they are in salads, on pizzas and in a variety of other Italian classics. This festival offers you the chance to sample real and authentic extra virgin olive oil, pressed and produced using traditional methods by local farmers.

As well as encouraging you to fall in love with an Italian essential, as it is generously drizzled over fresh, crisp bruschetta, the festival also seeks to entertain the townspeople and the visitors with music, dancing, and the highlight of a parade of farmers, who ride through the town on specially decorated tractors. There are also a number of stalls available to browse which sell other locally produced food and goods besides olive products and bruschetta.

If you’d like to visit Italy and fall in love with its countryside towns’ many charming local events such as this, visit our website to browse our range of Umbria, Tuscany, Sardinia, Sicily, Puglia and Abruzzo accommodation.

Image: Foodista, available under Creative Commons