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JANUARY

January 17: Feast of St. Antonio Abate in Campiglia d'Orcia, Castiglione d'Orcia, Radicofani, Pienza.

Blessing of animals and distribution of blessed bread.

FEBRUARY 

February: Festival of San Biagio Vescovo in Campiglia d'Orcia
Religious celebrations, dinners and dances.

February 5: Patronal Feast of St. Agatha in Radicofani
Celebration of Mass and procession with the statue of St. Agatha.

Next Sunday at 3 February: Festival of San Biagio Vescovo in Bagno Vignoni.
Religious celebrations.

 third weekend of February Welcome Brunello in Montalcino celebrates the bringing out of the new vintage of Brunello di Montalcino into the market place, and a panel of experts assesses the harvest brought in five months ago. This is a weekend when Montalcino is inundated with wine gurus and writers who come to write…and examine…and drink...wine, wine, wine.

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APRIL

Pienza first Sunday of the month
Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

Holy Friday Castiglione d'Orcia and Pienza
Cardboard pictures of Jesus and the Virgin Mary are carried in procession through the streets of the town accompanied by torches and the band. The women carry the image of Our Lady while the men carry the cross and streetlights. Along the way you set fire to small dry bushes called "juniper."
In Pienza the hooded are barefoot hence the representation takes the sacred name of procession of the barefooted.

Tenth Sunday after Easter, Corpus in Castiglione d'Orcia - Pienza - Monticchiello
A procession moves through the streets of the country, formerly embellished with gorse and rose petals.

April 25: March of Independence in Montalcino
March of Independence Siena-Montalcino. foot race, relay and walk with Mountain Bike.

Last Thursday of April to the first Friday of May: Spring Festival in Montalcino

April 30: "First of  May" in Castiglione d'Orcia
Ancient tradition of good omen when a group of singers and musicians visited the farms and the houses of the villages, singing a song of begging. The group began its journey in the afternoon to somhow compelled to stop at dawn on May 1.

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MAY

Pienza first Sunday of the month Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

Last Thursday of April to the first Friday of May: Spring Festival in Montalcino

The spring festival, feast and dancing, takes place in the fortress on the above dates to raise funds for our football club. The women of the village work hard making pasta by hand, the men grill steaks and pour wine for the entire eight days and nights. Visitors come from everywhere to feast in the fortress on the cuisine of Montalcino.

Last Sunday of May: Open Cellars in Montalcino  This is the most important event of the year , involving wine as the main protagonist together with the people who produce it and the territory where it is made. For the past 17 years during the last Sunday of May, the members of the association have opened their doors to the vast public establishing in this way an immediate and direct contact with all wine tourists and lovers.

May: Mille Miglia Vintage car race betweenTorrenieri - Pienza - Radicofani - S. Quirico
Re-enactment of the Mille Miglia vintage car race.

First weekend of May: Feast of the Madonna del Soccorso in Montalcino
Liturgical celebrations, band concert, fair, fireworks.

Sunday of May: Festa Campagnola in Castelnuovo dell’Abate

Gastronomic event with music and entertainment

8 May: Celebrations in honor of Maria SS. of Help in Montalcino

Celebrations in honor of Maria SS. del Soccorso. Districts in the country offering of candles to the Virgin. Procession with band, fair, horse race.

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JUNE

Pienza first Sunday of the month
Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

June 24: Festa di San Giovanni in Contignano and Vivo d'Orcia
Festa di San Giovanni is the feast of the summer solstice, that is the longest day of the year. The vegetation is in bloom and reached its heyday. This time is used to collect various types of herbs, especially medicinal ones.

Third weekend in June: Festa del Barbarossa in San Quirico d'Orcia
The festival is inspired by the meeting between Frederick I, called Barbarossa, and the ambassadors of Pope Adrian IV. On that occasion, the Pope asked the delivery of Brother Arnold of Brescia accused of heresy, in exchange for his approval to the coronation of Emperor Barbarossa. The event starts in the morning with the commissioning of the districts of the country at the end of which is giving away their order to participate in races and archery skills with flags, then represented the meeting between Barbarossa and the Pope and a procession moves through the streets of the country. After the races are staged dinner with traditional dishes of local gastronomy.

June / September: San Quirico Estate in San Quirico d'Orcia
Review of theatrical and musical
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JULY

Pienza first Sunday of the month
Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

Montalcino Jazz & Wine
The “Jazz & Wine in Montalcino” festival is now at its thirteenth edition and represents one of the most prestigious jazz music events of the nation. The festival was founded in 1998 with the help of Castello Banfi, the famous winery of Montalcino that is deeply bound to the territory and its traditions, and the cultural association “Jazz & Image” of Rome and the Municipality of Montalcino. Each year’s program is rich and varied, spacing on different musical languages, as many as the different interpretations of Jazz can be.

July / August: Festival of Val d'Orcia
(in the five municipalities in the Val d'Orcia)
Music, theater, dance, workshops and cultural itineraries.

July 15: Festa dell'Assunzione
(Contignano)
It celebrates St. Mass and a procession winds along the streets of broom and decorated with floral designs made with sacred corn meal. The evening before, fires of bundles of dry twigs burning in the village and surrounding countryside.

July / August:
Monticchiello Teatro Povero
For more than twenty years the company of the Teatro Povero of Monticchiello ( a village perched on one of the hills surrounding Pienza) stages a particularly interesting experience of life and culture.The local inhabitants, in fact, from the last week in July for almost all of August give their daily performances in the main square. The drama enacted is written directed and staged by them alone, who also create the music and scenery. During the past few years the performances "recited" in the typical Val d'Orcia dialect; have been divided in two parts, the first enacting experiences of peasant life during the first half of the 20th century, the second dramatising themes of current events. The theatrical experience of the people of Monticchiello though having had a popular or folk origin has become a significant example of "making" theatre in Italy enjoying public acclaim and critical approval.

July 26: Patronal Feast of St. Anne
(Vivo d'Orcia)
S. Mass, games, dances. On 27 July, that day Sant'Annina, organize games at Pian delle Mura and dances.

Last weekend in July: Summer Rock
(Rocca d'Orcia)
Gastronomic event with traditional local dishes. Old crafts in the medieval village.

June / September: San Quirico Summer
(San Quirico d'Orcia)
Review of theatrical and musical

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AUGUST

Pienza first Sunday of the month
Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

July / August: Festival of Val d'Orcia
(in the five municipalities in the Val d'Orcia)
Music, theater, dance, workshops and cultural itineraries.

Artists personal exhibitions in Castiglione d'Orcia
 (painting-sculpture) exhibition contest winners at St. Catherine of Siena.

 Festival of Tourism in Radicofani
Theatrical shows, cabaret, Gimcana car. Musical and gastronomic event in the streets of the country.

First Sunday of August: Medieval Feast in Radicofani
Costume party with historical commemoration. Food stands.

Second Sunday of August: Hunting tournament opening in Montalcino
The Opening of the Hunt Festival on the second weekend of August takes the form of a historical procession through the village in medieval costume, and then an archery tournament in the later afternoon. It’s a fabulous weekend of pageantry and history, with plenty of eating and drinking.

August 14 to 15: Fireworks in the night of the Assumption (Ferragosto)
(Pienza)
Courtyards of the historic buildings open and torchlight procession through the streets of the country. Fireworks on the evening of 14 August

Classical music concert in the Cathedral of Pienza (afternoon of 15)

22 August: Festival of San Filippo Benizi
(Bagni San Filippo)
Candlelight vigil on the evening of 22 moves from the village to the cave of the saint. On 23, after the religious celebrations, organize games and activities.

Sunday after Ferragosto: Feast of Our Lady of Grace
(Castiglione d'Orcia)
It celebrates the patron of the country. Mass, a procession from the church of Santa Maria deals with the candle at the Church of Saints Stephen and Worthy. Games, music, dances, fireworks.

June / September: San Quirico Summer festivals
Review of theater and music.

from August to November: Forme nel Verde in San Quirico d'Orcia
International Exhibition of Contemporary Art inside Horti Leonini.

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SEPTEMBER

Pienza first Sunday of the month Market: Organic produce and products from the Parco della Val d'Orcia

First Sunday of September: Fiera del Cacio - Pecorino cheese exhibition - PIENZA
Always considered the "capital" of the pecorino cheese, during this week end the village is covered with the scents and the colors of the traditional products of Pienza. The Fair of the Cheese is therefore ideal occasion in order to taste those typical products that have made the pientino territory famous all over the world. Manifestations and popular plays will not miss in the public square of the historical center PLUS Traditional Folk Fair and related events throughout the weekend. Hilarious is the traditional game of rolling-a-round-of-cacio-toward-the-spindle - Il Cacio al Fuso.

First week of September: Honey Week in Montalcino

An annual gathering of Apiarists in the fortress where they exchange trends and ideas, and sell honey in all shapes and forms, display information and talk about the skill of bee-keeping, and the national and international market. Economically, honey is an important product here.

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OCTOBER

Last Sunday in October: Feast of the Thrush (Tordo) in Montalcino

On the last weekend of October the atmosphere is tense. The weekend is filled with pageantry, history, processions, rivalry and excitement. The four neighbourhoods of Montalcino close ranks, wear their own colours, and, as the hours pass and festivities begin, the rivalry and passions of the citizens reach fever pitch, culminating in a hotly contested archery tournament on Sunday afternoon.

In this tournament the ancient archery skills of the Montalcinesi are tested, and the winning archers bring glory and honour to their neighbourhood.

Thousands of visitors arrive in Montalcino to witness this passionate festival. If you would like to be here to share this extraordinary event, booking is absolutely essential as accommodation is limited and you must be in Montalcino before the festival begins – or face a several kilometre walk uphill on the day of the Tournament – because your car will be parked away down in the valley!

from August to November: Forme nel Verde in San Quirico d'Orcia
International Exhibition of contemporary sculpture within the Horti Leonini.

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NOVEMBER

Autumn festival with the new olive oil in Castiglione d'Orcia
Demonstration for the enhancement of local production of oil. Popular games.

November 30: Feast of the Patron Saint Andrew in Pienza

November 30: Feast of Tuscany in Pienza
Chestnuts, sausage and bruschetta in Piazza Pio II.

November 30: Patronal Feast of St. Andrew in Contignano
S. Mass, procession, folk games.

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DECEMBER

II weekend of December: Feast of olive oil in San Quirico d'Orcia
Demonstration for the enhancement of the local product. Samples of bruschetta and fresh produce.
Christmas time: Christmas Carols and Nativity
(Val d'Orcia)

from 26 December to 6 January: Monticchiello Christmas (Monticchiello - Pienza)
Theatrical and popular traditions.

December 26: Patronal Feast of Boxing day in Castiglione d'Orcia
Mass and band music

December 26: C in Pienza
Concert Chorale of Pienza and the Ensemble of the School of Music.

December 26: Christmas Concert in Radicofani
Concert body band G. Verdi Radicofani in the Church of St. Peter the Apostle.

December 26: Boxing day Concert in Castiglione d'Orcia

Mass and Brass band music

December 26 to 30: Gioco del Panforte in Pienza
Tournament of the traditional winter games.

December 30: We hope the new year
(Pienza)
Christmas and New Year under the loggia of the Palazzo Comunale.

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