CHRISTMAS IN ROMAGNA

The last month of the year in Romagna ends with a bang!! In fact, Romagna is getting ready for these holidays, in a great flurry of lights and colours, delicious meals, sweets, typical products spreading out around all the Christmas markets and the town festivals between magnificent Christmas decorations, bingos, choirs, trees and poinsettias. Adults and children will find plenty of opportunities to celebrate and have fun in this region, between the suggestive and sometimes wistful maritime landscapes, the wealth of pianura padana and the pictoresque glimpses of hills, pre-Appennine peaks and green valleys.

Lots of cities are proposing artistic Nativity scenes: different coastal sites are known for their Nativity scenes made of sand thanks to the collaboration of important world-class artists. One of the most beautiful is surely Marina di Ravenna‘s sand Nativity scene, just a few km from the city of mosaics: on a 400 mq area, international artists meet each other to create artistic sand Nativity scenes, taking inspiration from framous paintings or statues, and transforming them into majestic works of art depicting Nativity; some of them can also be up to 3 meters high.
An other city you must visit is Rimini, where a
fascinating show made up of  almost 200 sand statues attracts every year lots of families and visitors coming also from abroad. The creation of sand Nativity scenes is highly appreciated in Rimini for the suggestion and detailing of these works; a very popular tradition also for its close connection with the territory. In fact, sand is the symbol of Rimini’s important bathing tradition. During every Christmas, the life of an ancient country village is completely recreated on a 600 mq area, with carachters committed to different traditional jobs. Sand-masters realise different settings every year, always focusing on Nativity, and Nativity scenes are becoming more and more popular for their beautiful details and for depicting unique and suggestive scenes every year.

And naturally, you will find wonderful Christmas trees, beneficence auctions, lots of excursions and street performers. This atmosphere makes December in Romagna so unique, ending the year with stunning pyrotechnic displays over the admiring eyes of passersby and residents. I suggest you to closely follow the calendar of events and appointments that I’m placing at your disposal; you will discover that the proverbial conviviality and hospitality of Romagna’s people is not just a summer fact, but it repeats throughout the year for the joy of all the tourists on holiday in this wonderful territory.

Christmas’s star attraction in Cesenatico is the new floating Nativity scene on Maritime Museum’s ancient boats, berthed in the canal-harbor. This is a suggestive reinterpretation of the Nativity scene, set in the romantic and rarefied mood of a typical seafaring borough, between sails painted in ochre and rust, reflecting themselves in the canal.  The light shows of Christmas decorations and their reflection on the water are breathtaking. In Cesenatico the most traditional representation of the holy family surrounds himself with different carachters and their daily lives in a little fishing community in the northern Adriatic: sailors darning the nets, fishwives, carpenters and a woman with some “piade”. It is a sculpture group of about 50 more elements, made of pine wood and a grid stiffened with hot wax which, since the seven statues of ’86, every year is enriched by a new piece. This Nativity scene has earned the recognition of  “Italian heritage for tradition“, given by the Ministry of Tourism for having transformed traditions and folklore into a strategic asset for the enhancement of the territory and its traditions.

In San’Agata Feltria from the 27th of november, Chrismas celebrations have started again in a big way, through an international event reviving the ancient tradition of Christmas markets, Nativity scenes and dioramas exposed in the Church of San Francesco della Rosa, also adding lots of funny side events. First of all, you can find Santa’s House, where the legendary old man lives, near to the Elves Lab, with a cute garden where the reindeer Sirio and Polar graze, ready to walk around the city with Santa’s sleigh, while an elf picks up all children’s Christmas lists to be delivered to Santa Claus. Also, children can’t leave without first take a walk around the enchantment of the “faitytale fortress” (Rocca Fregoso), and meet some fantastic carachters. Gastronomy’s main theme for Christmas will be the “Advent Dishes”, served in restaurants and trattorias, as well as in the “Mangiatoia” stand. The unmistakable sound of bagpipes and the traditional music of Santa’s Band will be the main musical background during Christmas, making shopping even more fun, between craftsmanship stands, typical products like Sant’Agata’s top grade white tuffle and Formaggio di Fossa, gift ideas and Christmas decorations.

Romagna is waiting for you with plenty of events for the whole month of December, to celebrate Christmas together between tradition, gastronomy, decorations, and a lot of joy!

At Christmas, book a guided tour as a gift to yourself!! By clicking HERE you will find lots of tours for everyone!

 

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