Infiorata Festival in Italy: from North to South the most charming ones you shouldn't miss

Infiorata Festival in Italy was born to celebrate Corpus Domini and greet the arrival of the warm season, between the end of April and the beginning of June, splendid designs made up of delicate flower petals color the streets of the villages and towns of the peninsula. From events to celebrate the religious tradition, over time Infiorata Festival have been transformed into fine works of art.

Meticulous artists compete every year in the creation of accurate designs composed of thousands of petals and plant elements, without any artificial glue or dye. Incredible scented mosaics, joy for sight and smell, an unmissable opportunity that celebrates faith, nature, and art. Also, an opportunity to get to know or see again cities and villages under a new guise.

For our review we start from Noale. We are in Veneto in the province of Venice, a 100 m2 carpet covers the main street of the town until it reaches the ancient Bell Tower. The Infiorata Festival for Noale is one of the most anticipated events, in addition to its artistic and religious value for the town, it represents group work, which strengthens social bonds. Even kindergarten children collaborate in the work. Petals, herbal essences, cereals, stems, and natural materials become ornamental paintings alongside which the Corpus Domini procession passes in the evening. If you are traveling in Veneto, take advantage of a tour of Venice with the advantageous The Venice Pass.

Liguria, by its colorful and flowery nature, has various infiorata Festival, it is difficult to say which is the most beautiful. We certainly cannot avoid mentioning the one in Pietra Ligure (Savona) which every three years welcomes Pietra Ligure in fiore: the exhibition of artistic Infiorata Festival. It is the largest Infiorata Festival in Europe. All the squares in the center are filled with depictions of famous works of art or original drawings by master flower decorators. More than 800 masters from 40 Italian and European cities start working on Saturday, the public can browse and follow the entire work process. The works remain on display until Sunday evening. The next edition - despite us - is scheduled for 2025.

Also, in the province of Savona in Sassello, the Infiorata Festival has taken the place of an ancient custom: The infrascata, in which green branches decorated the route of the Corpus Domini procession. This year it will take place on Sunday 2 June 2024. While in Brugnato, province of La Spezia, the districts compete to see who creates the most beautiful floral carpet.

For Liguria, finally, in Diano Marina, province of Imperia, on the coast of the Riviera di Ponente, two thousand colored square meters invade the streets of the centre, fresh and dried petals fill accurate designs on the paving of the main streets up to the square in front to the municipality. This year it is scheduled for Sunday 2 June.

We close the northern review with the Emilia-Romagna region, we are in Alseno (Piacenza), a Roman village where the Cistercian abbey of Chiaravalle from 1136 also stands. It is the abbey that welcomes the Corpus Domini Infiorata Festival every year. Atypical compared to the traditional infiorata festival, the one in Alseno is set up indoors: in the central nave of the Abbey, paintings with religious subjects are surrounded by elaborate floral frames. The peace of the Gothic cloister and the frescoes are doubly worth the visit.

Moving on to central Italy, the Infiorata Festival are truly numerous, it is really difficult not to resist the temptation to see at least one.

Let's start from the rolling hills of Tuscany. In the small village of Farnetella, in the Val di Chiana (Siena), the dates of the 2024 Infiorata Festival are still to be defined, but they will be between the end of May and the beginning of June, as every year the Infiorata Festival will be accompanied by a festival of literature, music and gastronomy; innovative and independent artists will liven up the streets of the village, blending in with the colors of the Infiorata Festival. While the traditional Infiorata Festival in Fucecchio (Florence) this year will be held on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June. If you are in these parts it is a good opportunity for a trip to Florence, take advantage of the advantageous Florence Pass to discover the city while saving time and money.

The verdant Umbria excels for its Spello infiorata (1 - 2 June 2024), a one-and-a-half-kilometer route orchestrated by master infiorators who work on their designs throughout the year. Over the years, the drawings have become increasingly refined in the effort to communicate increasingly complex religious-social messages, which require careful planning. The competition held since the 1960s has contributed to encouraging the technique of the masters. To create these works of art, the use of flowers, whole or petals or even chopped, fresh or dried, and berries or leaves is permitted. It is the master flower arrangers who go to recover the necessary material in the surrounding countryside. The designs can be from 24 to 70 m² in size, while the floral carpets range from a minimum of 12 meters to a maximum of 15 meters. This year the Infiorata Festival will take place on 10 and 11 June, but a series of collateral events are planned from the week before. The highlight, as in other cases, is the night of flowers, the one between Saturday and Sunday of Corpus Domini in which the streets of the picturesque Umbrian village come alive with floral artists of all ages.

The Infiorata Festival is less spectacular in nearby Assisi, where however the city alone is certainly worth a visit and so why not on the days of the Infiorata Festival, which always takes place on the weekend of Corpus Christi, which this year will be the 1st and June 2.

Among the most famous Infiorata Festival in the Marche we have that of Montefiore dell'Aso (Ascoli Piceno), a very long carpet runs through the town where the origins of this tradition seem to date back to the goddess Flora, as well as the name of the city, here too the 1st June 2. We also mention the Infiorata Festival of Cupra Montana (Ancona), while in the province of Pesaro and Urbino we have the Infiorata Festival of Fermignano and Piobbi, a marvelous medieval village at the foot of the hill on which the Brancaleoni castle stands, here the event takes the name of La Fiorita del Corpus Domini and your eyes will not be able to tear themselves away from the yellows of the brooms, which skilfully mix with the red of the roses and the green of the savory.

The Grand tour of the Infiorata Festival then arrives in Lazio, here we start with what is considered the largest, that of Alatri (Frosinone). In Alatri the Infiorata Festival is particularly felt, probably due to the presence in the historic center of the relic of the Eucharistic Miracle which occurred in 1228 and depicted on a series of frescoes on the walls of the Alatri cathedral, the relic is preserved in the same church. The beautiful Infiorata Festival in Genzano di Roma, a town located 30 km from the capital, will be held from 15 to 17 June 2024. The laying of the petals here begins at dawn on the same Sunday, the flowers collected in the previous days are preserved in the municipal caves. Over twenty varieties of flowers chosen to represent all shades of color. The drawings remain on the ground until Monday afternoon when the children in the characteristic Spallamento dismantle the paintings by throwing handfuls of petals, real color battles to the delight of the children. This year's very evocative theme will be I am the other.

The town of Gerano, however, hosts the oldest Infiorata Festival in Italy, we are in the Giovenzano valley, in the heart of the Lazio countryside and here the Infiorata Festival was born between 1743 and 1760 to celebrate the Madonna del Cuore (an eighteenth-century work by Sebastiano Conca). In Gerano, the master flower artists work directly on the ground for their sketches, drawing figures with chalk which will then be filled with the colors and scents of nature. In Gerano it is also possible to visit the Infiorata Museum opened in 2003, which preserves the historical tools used by the infiorators and allows visitors to take a virtual tour of past editions. In Gerano the 295th Infiorata Festival will be held on Sunday 28 April 2024.

We also highlight the flower festival of Bolsena in the Viterbo area in upper Lazio which will take place on 1 and 2 June 2024. We close the flower route of central Italy with the Abbruzzo region and the flower festival of the picturesque town of Roccascalegna (Chieti), nestled between the wild valleys of Abbruzzo, in this village there is also a beautiful castle. A curiosity reveals to us that on the day of Corpus Christi the first person who will be able to step on the noble carpet of flowers will be the parish priest of the church, who after the mass will go out in procession showing the holy sacrament.

And here we are in the south. Let's start from the capital of Molise: Campobasso, where the tradition of the Infiorata dates to 1911 and will take place on May 31st. Religious and geometric designs, depictions of the Virgin Mary to pay homage to the Madonna dei Monti will run through the city. In Campobasso, whose ancient part is located on the slope of a hill dominated by the castle of Monforte, the Infiorata is linked to the community of Capuchin friars of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. The Capuchins undertook to renovate and renovate the church which was inaugurated on 30 May 1911, the following day the statue of the Madonna was carried through the streets of the town and with her the Infiorata, which has always been celebrated on the occasion of 31 May.

Arriving in Campania, the Infiorata of San Bartolomeo in Galdo (Benevento) stands out; here, in addition to flowers, petals and other natural elements, colored salt, seeds, sawdust and coffee grounds are also used to decorate the designs. A continuum of shapes and colors runs through the entire historic center, but then extends to the various neighborhoods, even reaching the suburbs. Also in Campania is the Flower Festival of Cusano Mutri (Benevento) which will be held on Sunday 2 June. If you are in Campania, take advantage of a trip to Naples.

Running towards the heel of the peninsula we find the Infiorata Festival of Patù (Lecce), in the lower Salento, at the southern end of Capo di Leuca. Here simple flowers with intense colors that reflect this land are used, the petals can also be ground creating a powder capable of defining the details of the designs. The Infiorata is an opportunity to visit this wonderful Salento village dressed up for Corpus Domini.

Sliding into Calabria we find the Infiorata Festival of Potenzoni di Briatico (Vibo Valenza), a small hamlet of just 250 souls. Four districts competing to best pay homage to this important anniversary, which brings the town back to life, especially the young people who try their hand at thinking and creating images.

We cannot fail to point out the Infiorata of the islands: in Sicily, apart from the very famous Infiorata Festival of Noto (17-21 May 2024), we find that of San Pier di Niceto (Messina), the origins of the Sampierese Infiorata are lost in the eighteenth century, when it was customary to sprinkle the route of the Corpus Christi procession with rosemary, flower petals and broom and display blankets and sheets with floral motifs on the balconies, today it is up to two kilometers long and every year it attracts visitors from other Italian regions and also from abroad.

We conclude this long floral itinerary with Tortolì (Nuoro), on the central eastern coast of Sardinia, this year the Infiorata has reached its XI edition.