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Archive for the ‘Festivals in Italy’ Category

Jazz on a Hilltop: Umbria Jazz Winter

Posted in Festivals in Italy, Festivals in Umbria, Italy, Orvieto, Travel, Umbria, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 27, 2012| 8 Comments »

Watch YouTube Video Below!

Like scrappy, bebopping Pied Pipers, Perugia’s popular street band Funk Off gets this party started with a nightly parade that snakes through Orvieto’s narrow and ancient cobblestone alleyways. Music lovers, young and old, scamper and skip behind these energetic hipsters as their infectious beat draws more and more followers along the route. The bluesy procession ends with an impromptu jam session in the Piazza della Repubblica, where you’ll find you can’t help but tap your feet, move your body and smile: It’s Umbria Jazz Winter and “baby, it’s cold outside”.

IMG_1412The international flavor and welcoming spirit amidst the holiday lights and chilly, frigid temperatures creates a unique atmosphere that makes this festival something special. For five nights, starting from December 28 to January 1, Jazz fans flock from all over Italy and beyond to partake in the music and brotherhood for which this festival has become world renowned.

IMG_1595The old year goes out with a bang! Capodanno is celebrated with concerts and spontaneous jam sessions all over town. Ring in the New Year with fireworks and lots of reveling in the streets. On New Year’s Day arrive at the famous Duomo early to secure your spot for the first Mass of the year. Inside this majestic Cathedral you’ll witness something you don’t see every day; hymns sung at a Roman Catholic “Mass for Peace and Gospel” by Dr. Bobby Jones and the Nashville Gospel Super Choir. Hold onto your seats because this joint will be jumpin’!

For more information about the festival go to: http://www.umbriajazz.com

SEE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF FUNK OFF HERE:

by Toni DeBella

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Jazz on a Hilltop: Umbria Jazz Winter 2012

Posted in Culture, Festivals in Italy, Festivals in Umbria, Italians, Italy, Orvieto, Umbria, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 28, 2011| 2 Comments »

Watch YouTube Video Below!

Yes, I know you’ve seen this post before….but it’s Umbria Jazz Winter #20, so I’m updating the line-up and reminding everyone that there’s a 6-day party going on in Orvieto!

Like scrappy, bebopping Pied Pipers, Perugia’s popular street band Funk Off gets this party started with a nightly parade that snakes through Orvieto’s narrow and ancient cobblestone alleyways. Music lovers, young and old, scamper and skip behind these energetic hipsters as their infectious beat draws more and more followers along the route. The bluesy procession ends with an impromptu jam session in the Piazza della Repubblica, where you’ll find you can’t help but tap your feet, move your body and smile: It’s Umbria Jazz Winter #20 and “baby, it’s cold outside”.

IMG_1412The international flavor and welcoming spirit amidst the holiday lights and chilly, frigid temperatures creates a unique atmosphere that makes this festival something special. For five nights, starting from December 28 to January 1, Jazz fans flock from all over Italy and beyond to partake in the music and brotherhood for which this festival has become world renowned.  Performing on stage this year: Gregory Porter Septet, Dee Alexander & Evolution Ensemble, Tomeka Reid, Nicole Mitchell, Gary Brown & Feelings, Giovanni  Tommaso Reunion Quintet, John Batiste, and many more.

IMG_15182012 goes out with a bang! Capodanno is celebrated in the Piazza del Popolo at midnight, ringing in the New Year with a fireworks display and free outdoor concert.  On New Year’s Day arrive at the famous Duomo early to secure your spot for the first Mass of 2013.  Inside this majestic Cathedral you’ll witness something you don’t see every day; hymns sung at a Roman Catholic “Mass for Peace and Gospel” by Dr. Bobby Jones and the Nashville Gospel Superchoir.  Hold onto your seats because this joint will be jumpin’!

For more information about the festival go to: http://www.umbriajazz.com/Home.aspx

SEE YOUTUBE VIDEO OF FUNK OFF HERE:

by Toni DeBella

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I’m Dreaming of a Green, White and Red Christmas….

Posted in Christmas in Italy, Culture, Expat in Italy, Festivals in Italy, Festivals in Umbria, Italy, tagged , , , , , , on December 22, 2011| 6 Comments »

…Where the joyful sonatas of “Auguri” replace “Buongiorno” just for the season…and the sparkling, twinkling, snowy-white lights bring elegance to streets and alleyways.  Christmas markets and ice rinks erupt everywhere…Presepio and Ceppo reflect the perennial traditions of the old and yawning, sleepy children at Midnight Mass remind us of the new.  Holiday salutations begin with Prosecco and end the night with Grappa…and it is never, ever too cold for gelato!  Panettone and Amaretti dunked into your cappuccino means it’s Christmas morning and…Babbo Natale “is coming to town” but in eleven days, La Befana is bringing the “stash”!

Buone Feste (Happy Holidays) to you and yours!

Peace in the New Year.

by Toni DeBella

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Vola, Colomba Bianca, Vola!!! Sunday, June 12, 2011

Posted in Culture, Festivals in Italy, Festivals in Umbria, Italians, Italy, Living in Italy, Orvieto, Travel, Umbria, tagged , , , , , on June 16, 2011| 2 Comments »

Each Pentecoste Sunday for centuries, a large crowd gathers in front of the Duomo di Orvieto to celebrate the Festa della Palombella. Despite the condemnation of animal rights advocates, a dove is placed in a plexiglass “space capsule” and launched on a zip-line across the Piazza. It arrives at the specially constructed cenacle with great fanfare of fireworks, red flames and clouds of smoke. The dove symbolizes the descent of lo Spirito Santo (the Holy Spirit) on the Apostles. It’s said that if the dove survives the traumatic journey, it portends a year of good crops and fertility for the city’s most recently wed couple, who vow to care for the dove until its natural death.

Apparently, this year “la colomba” had other plans! Somehow the container had opened prematurely and amidst a cheering crowd, the dove made her daring and defiant escape – literally and figuratively – she “flew the coop”. The question remains: If a “surviving” dove signifies a year of favorable crop yields and a “deceased” dove predicts a weak harvest, then it’s good news for farmers since a liberated dove is certainly “alive and well”.

But what is the fate of the newlyweds who were deprived of their blessing of peace and fertility? I have no doubt that every bar in town is humming with speculation about this twist of fate! The discourse and theorizing could go on for the next 365 days!
by Toni DeBella

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