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Introduction Country festival of Azon Country festival of Cadin Country festival of Cortina Country festival of Chiave Country festival of Alverà Country festival of Zuel Running races ConclusionIntroduction
The "Country festivals" (italian: Feste Campestri) of Cortina d'Ampezzo are six summer events where you can eat, drink and have fun. They are one of the most awaited appointments of the summer,
both by residents and tourists.
The Country festivals are six parties organized by the six different Districts of Cortina (italian: Sestieri di Cortina) in which the town is divided, which today have pratically only folkloric value.
Each district sets up its own country festival within its borders, so they all take place in different places.
The purpose is to promote folklore and sporting activity...
The importance of country festivals is volunteering. All the people you'll see working, plus all those involved in assembly, disassembly and organization, do it for free. The purpose of these activities is to promote folklore and sports activities. All the money earned during the festivals is in fact used to pay the sports activities of children and young people of the district, such as cross-country skiing courses or the soccer tournament.
Organizing these activities each district involve its young citizens, creating a group of friends who practice outdoor activities together and that, hopefully, growing up will help in the organization of future country festivals. This system has been going on for many years and works quite well. If you are going to eat at one of these "party", and you have to wait a few minutes, remember, those who are working are not professionals, but people who want to help their district. By eating a sausage or drinking a beer, you'll allow a child to take, for example, free ski or soccer courses, so please be patient if we are not as fast and organized as a professional catering would be.
...every "sestiere" is specialized, proposing a dish that distinguishes it...
The dishes offered are the classic ones of the village festivals, such as "polenta", sausage, melted cheese, chips, beer and wine. Over the years, however, each district has specialized, offering a dish that distinguishes it, such as the famous fartaies, a sweetness of "Alverà" district. Let's go now to analyze each country festival in detail, in order to understand what are the characteristics that distinguish it and why to visit it.
Caution: due to restrictions caused by Covid19 the country festivals and activities of the sestieri are currently suspended. We will update the page as soon as there is any news.
The summer of village festivals begins on the first Sunday of July, with the village festival (italian: Sagra d'Ampezzo), a typical event with stalls all along Corso Italia.
During the festival representatives of the various districts compete in a series of sporting events, including "the running race of the districts" (dialect: "Ra Corsa dei Sestiere"),
the Stump Saw and the tug of war.
All these events take place in Corso Italia and in the main square of the town, where there is also a kiosk
where the partecipants and fans of the competitions will celebrate until late in the evening.
Once the village festival is over, every weekend, the country festivals will take place, starting with the "Azon district".
The festival of "Azon" has been held for years on the penultimate Sunday of August, but recently it has been decided to change the date, moving to the weekend immediately after the village festival
and thus becoming the first country festival in Cortina.
Considering that the district of Azon is one of the smallest and that tourism has not started yet, this is one of the most rustic festivals, but this also makes it very appreciated by the residents.
The "blackbirds (italian: Merli)" is how the inhabitants of Azon call themselves, because their flag is represented by a blackbird, are a very close-knit group and are also great party-goers, so they know how to organize a party.
The specialty of the sestiere are the Nigele, a delicious "kind of" spherical pancakes cooked at the moment, so that at certain times you may have to wait in long lines to get a plate.
The festival, from year to year, is organized in different locations, according to the organizational needs. The last edition was celebrated in
The country festival of Cadin has been, in the past, for many years the opening festival of the Cortina's country festivals, so it is one of the most popular among the lovers of country festivals,
thanks to a kiosk at the entrance of the festival that is a magnet for the thirstiest. As said above, the festivity of Azon has moved, becoming the first one, but Cadin maintain an
affective value for great part of the population. The party is organized in the parking lot in front of the
The country festival of Cortina is the one that takes place in a more central position, it is in fact set up in the
The country festival of Chiave is generally built in
The country festival of Alverà has historically been organized in the vicinity of
The country festival of Zuel is organized under the
