Buon Ferragosto - 'Happy Holidays'

 The Summer Madness of Ferragosto Day & Week (or two)

This last Thursday, 15 August, was officially the happy National Italian Public Holiday day called Ferragosto.  There are so many national holidays, regional Piemonte holidays and Saints Days here in Italy, it’s hard to keep up.  Because all my work is with Irish and UK client’s, I don’t get to partake in these holidays much, in fact this year’s Ferragosto was my busiest day of the year. 

But it really is more than a single day off work for many Italians.  They tend to have their annual Summer holiday this week and some take 2 weeks. So, the excited anticipation of it builds with every transaction in the shops leading up to it. Shop owners talk feverishly of their holiday plans and warn local customers to stock up on meat, vegetables and other staples, as they will be closed for a week and sometimes two, over this period. And that’s why I am writing this article not out of love for this happy holiday but to warn you, if you are prospective tourists, to think twice about your holiday timings, or else to manage your expectations, because you will find many rural towns shut up and even cities.  I know you probably check for public holidays in Italy before deciding on your holiday dates, and you would be forgiven for thinking this was just one day’s holiday. But be warned! :)

Most places shut down for Ferragosto

I was in Turin twice this week for routine hospital appointments.  We approached Turin on Monday, expecting the usual log jams from ongoing roadworks at 9 am, we were met instead - with nothing.  Barely a car on the road.  It was so eerily quiet.  The usual bustling hospital was almost empty.  The normally busy consultant was able to schedule routine treatment for Friday, as he had hardly any patients to see,  because they were all away.  How was that for lucky timing! 

After the hospital appointment on Monday, we went into Turin's trendy eatery district of 'San Salvario', hoping to have lunch in our favourite restaurant and we were met with shuttered windows everywhere, as most restaurants were shut.  And this the Monday, three days before Ferragosto!  So, after eventually having lunch, in the only open restaurant in two blocks, we went on to do a shop in our 'go to' food shop, Naturasi, which is a mid sized chain of organic food stores.  We checked on Google to make sure it was open.  Sure enough they said they were open, but alas no.  When we arrived to more closed shutters, there was a tiny note stuck to the door announcing, 'We are closed for Ferragosto and reopen on Monday'.

You see, in Italy, so many small businesses are family run affairs, apart from the large supermarket chains and corporations. They take this public holiday day, en-masse, as an opportunity to have an extended summer holiday. Closing down their businesses right in the middle of tourist season!  They all head to the beach in Liguria, or some to their homes in the hills, to switch off during the hot weather and put their feet up.  Logically, why wouldn’t you do that?  But economically it doesn’t make sense for a city like Turin to not have eateries, in their trendiest food district, open.  That is a problem.  How is Turin going to attract tourists in the summer months, which they apparently are trying to do, if people return from their holidays complaining of there being nowhere to eat, or it lacking vibrancy, all because they have timed their vacation accidentally to coincide with Ferragosto week?

Even the petrol stations were unattended.  Fortunately, they still have the automated pumps working, but that system is a head-wreck for any new tourists to Italy to work out how to use on their own.

The Piemontese Head to the Ligurian Coast

We even got caught out by our local Generali Group Insurance broker.  Last week, we had gone in to get a quote on Tuesday, and I were told the shop would be closed for Ferragosto from Thursday (this is the prior Thursday,not the public holiday) through the next 2 weeks but we could return on Wednesday to pay, after looking over the paperwork.  This is normally a busy office! We returned on the Wednesday afternoon, ready to pay the insurance, only to find he had shut up in the morning and another little note stuck to the shutter confirmed he would return in two weeks, after Ferragosto! 

Even our lovely Italian teacher had to reschedule our usual Wednesday lesson, as she would be working flat out in her family butchers shop to meet the needs of their customers, who panic if they can't buy meat for one day, because they would be closed for the public holiday. It reminds me of queuing in the butcher we first went to at Christmas time.  You could possibly be standing in queue for a good 30 minutes to buy meat!

So, I am saying, sadly, it is best not to come to this part of Italy in future years on Ferragosto week or the following week on holiday. Unless you are self-catering and don’t want to eat out or shop in boutiques, or visit family run businesses and instead just want to shop in boring supermarkets, and that really isn’t having an Italian experience! You will thank me for this tip, and instead come other weeks, when you will take home beautiful memories of lovely meals out, cool little boutique shops, smiling petrol attendants, and all the wonderful people and energy that Piemonte has to offer.

Bizarrely, if you do want to risk a trip here in these weeks in future years, and you come to relax and sleep, or hang by the pool all day, there are lots of Festas and events on at night.  These are organised by the local Communities, aimed at the locals who remain, the self-catering holiday makers and the few brave tourists who happen to land here for their summer holiday, see these websites and facebook for some of the local Alta Langhe festivals and events in Turin.

i am off to the 65th Cortemilia Hazelnut Festival tonight and tomorrow.  Normally, about 5000 visitors head there for the street festival on Saturday night (17th August).  If you are going to be there, let me know.

Happy Ferragosto week (or two)!