Events
Colle Val d'Elsa

In Colle Val d’Elsa ancient and modern blend perfectly and this alchemy is also reflected in the festivals and events on the calendar. Here every year religious and traditional rural festivals alternate, with new and more current events that make the program of each season rich and varied. It starts with the commemoration of Eccidio di Montemaggio At the end of March he is remembered in many towns in the Val d’Elsa including Colle, in memory of the 19 partisans killed in the “Casa Giubbileo” area in 1944 who emotionally strengthened the anti-fascist resistance front. It continues in June with one of the most representative events of Colle, the Sagra della Miseria, which for the whole month puts on the table many gastronomic dishes of the local popular tradition. Every weekend in June, Colle Alta offers open-air convivial moments in its alleys and squares where you can taste and learn about the poor cuisine of this land. Everything ends with a special gastronomic evening, to celebrate with a symbolic “Calcio alla miseria”The arrival of San Marziale. Patron of the city, every year on July 1st it is celebrated San Marziale, with initial Mass and final procession in Gracciano. In addition to religious practices, the patronal feast also offers food stands, demonstrations of madonnari (painters of sacred images), a bicycle race, a unique boat competition on the Elsa river and the final fireworks display. In August Colle has been participating in the event for years “Calici di Stelle”, event promoted by the National Association of Wine Cities with many events scattered across the squares of Italy to spread the culture of wine. August closes with the Feast of Our Lady of Le Grazie, where near the sanctuary of Santa Maria and throughout the hamlet (Le Grazie), in addition to religious moments, pleasant convivial occasions, musical and dancing evenings, exhibitions and to finish the traditional fireworks display are held for a week. The event started again between August and September Liberacollarte. After a few years of stop, the festival has recently returned to the calendar with all its explosive charge that condenses into one day: concerts, artistic performances and exhibitions scattered around the city. The first weekend of September in Colle takes place one of the most recent and ambitious initiatives on the calendar, La Notte Gialla. An event started on tiptoe in a single area of the city and today present both in the upper and lower part, where for one night street artists, exhibitions, markets, music and shows of all kinds take over every space of the city . The week of September that follows, Colle prepares to celebrate one of the oldest and most heartfelt religious celebrations by the local community, the Festa del Sacro Chiodo. A feast that is celebrated every year on the Sunday in September closest to the liturgical feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14). Today the celebrations for the relic of S. Chiodo (kept in the Cathedral) have merged with a Renaissance festival which, in addition to the procession and historical parades, offers dinners, music and shows. One of the longest-running and most popular events in Colle is the Fiera degli Uccelli. It is celebrated in September, although tradition has it that it coincides with the end of summer (21 September), when the best hunting calls bred in the summer season were on sale. Today that tradition is repeated and in addition to the market it offers: photographic and artistic exhibitions, workshops for children and convivial occasions of pure fun. Then in October, two autumn products are the protagonists with the event Chestnuts and Vin novo. The last two Sundays of October food stands and banquets set up in the streets of Colle Alta showcase many products based on chestnuts and new wine that can be tasted among the musical notes of the various concerts organized in the squares.

To find out about all the (updated) appointments of the year scheduled in Colle Val d’Elsa, visit the Proloco website http://www.prolococollevaldelsa.it/