The following are just some of the many local events during the year here in the Val D’Orcia. Book your stay with us to enjoy these special festivals and local activities.
Exhibition – Art, Genius & Madness – Siena
January to June 2009
A large and unique Art Exhibition, comprising some 400 paintings and sculptures, being held in the Museum Santa Maria della Scala in Siena. Illustrating the complex rapport between art and madness. Artists include Hieronymous Bosch, Max Ernst and André Masson. In conjunction with the exhibition it is also possible to visit and Tour the psychiatric hospital San Noccolo at porta Romana (telephone bookings only).
Open every day from 10.30am to 7.30pm.
Web Site : www.artegeniofollia.it
Exhibition Market of the Marzuolo Truffle in San Giovanni d'Asso - Siena
March 7th & 8th 2009
On Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th March 2008 San Giovanni d'Asso will host the VIIth edition of the Exhibition Market of the Truffle Marzuolo.
Includes the following:
- Sales of Truffle Marzuolo and typical products
- Handicraft Market
- Exhibitions inside the castle
- Guided Tastings of the Truffle Marzuolo and Franciacorta
- Street Artists
- Guided tours and tastings inside the Truffle Museum
- Guided tours in the Bosco della Ragnaia
Tastings and guided tours are free
 Music Festival
Montisi – July 2009
The Piccola Accademia’s annual festival allows us to share with a wider audience our passion for musical excellence and historic performance practice. The harpsichord is at the heart of our festival but we also present ensembles, both instrumental and vocal, who highlight composers whose music incorporates or was informed by the instrument. Our artists range from distinguished exponents of historic performance to rising young stars, all offering a special musical experience.
Full info: www.piccolaaccademia.org
Stockholm Royal Opera Soloists in Tuscany
Opera at Cavargine 16 - 18 July 2009
For the third year in a row, First Concert master Semmy Stahlhammer returns with world-renowned soloists from the Stockholm Royal Opera and some of his favourite colleagues from Sweden's top symphonic orchestras.
Over three summer evenings, Semmy and his friends will sing and play the music closest to their hearts, including arias from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Nozze di Figaro, La Traviata, Carmen, La Bohème and Madama Butterfly and selected chamber music pieces for piano, strings and wind instruments.
Each concert will be in two parts and during the intermission a Tuscan four-course dinner will be served by Michelin-star chef Michele Sorrentino of Antica Trattoria Botteganova and paired with some of the finest wines of Montalcino.
To keep the wonderfully intimate atmosphere, they limit the number of seats to 150.
Full details at www.musictuscany.com
Wine Train - April to October 2009
The Wine Train runs from Siena to Montalcino. Kick back and enjoy the comfort of our posh passenger cars or sip vintage wines at the tables of our tasting car (only from 30th October 2007), experiencing a moveable feast through the Tuscan landscape.
One hundred and fifty guests will be pampered through the green heart of Val d'Orcia in a memorable trip from Siena to Montalcino, taking in enchanting vistas and savoring timeless foods.
Italy, the cradle of beauty, is now also the cradle of slow tourism. If you like to travel unhindered in an eternal landscape of art and history searching for ancient vines or future wines, then the Wine Train can offer you an unforgettable, convivial trip down memory lane.
Leave Siena on a Saturday or Sunday morning for Montalcino, threading your way slowly through Val d'Orcia with its wheat fields, rolling hills and castles and its astonishingly beautiful landscape untouched by highways.
Montalcino's ancient train station will greet you with its steam locomotive, a shop car where you can buy Tuscan delicacies, a wine car, and a historical winery and cellar where fine wines are produced and aged under Roberto Cipresso's supervision.
And the real adventure is yet to start. Take your pick: hiking; mountain biking; visiting a Twelfth century monastery, Nineteenth century wine cellars or ancient hamlets; discovering cheeses that originated in the Middle Ages; participating in a vertical tasting of Brunello wines.
For further information:
Associazione Treno del Vino
Phone: 800 913231
Email: info@winestation.it
Web: www.winestation.it
Chestnut festival – October 2009
Castiglione D’Orcia
Annual Chestnut Festival. Specially for this occasion the three areas of the village organise the historic re-enaction of the ancient and traditional uses of the chestnut. The locals who participate are all dressed in traditional medieval costume. All visitors have the chance to vote for their favourite part of the village activities! Lots of stalls with typical products, and food and deserts made from chestnuts.
Olive Oil Festivals – October / November / December 2009
San Quirico D’Orcia & Montisi
Annual Olive Oil festivals to celebrate the new oil of the season, freshly pressed, spicy and delicious. Tastings with bruschetta. Street Markets. Stalls of Olive Oils and related products.
White Truffle Festival – November 2009
San Giovanni D’Asso
Annual Truffle festival. Held over two full weekends in November. The village of San Giovanni D’Asso is a treasure trove for the prestigious White Truffle found locally during this period. Stalls line the streets and it is possible to taste all sorts of Truffle Products or even organize to go on a Truffle Hunt with skilled local hunters and their dogs. |
