It's Festival Time in Umbria

As summer winds down in Italy, the tourist crowds and heat dissipate and we all excitedly anticipate truffle season and the wine harvest. It's quickly becoming the best time to visit Italy, a perfect time for a small-town festa or two.

My favorite type of Italian festa? Well, beside's the food festivals called "sagre," I like music festivals that offer free music in piazzas, churches and ancient courtyards. Right now you can enjoy such a classical music festival by heading down to Città di Castello for the Festival of Nations, now through September 5th. This year the focus is on Chopin and dedicated to Poland. Spoleto hosts the "Experimental School of Opera" until October 9th, and medieval town of Foligno hosts a baroque revival with Spanish baroque song and dance groups as well as baroque musical ensembles. And finally, Zubin Mehta opens the Perugian "Sagra Musicale Umbra" conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino on September 15; the sagra runs through September 24th. For more, check Perugia Online's calendar of musical events.

Sound like fun? Close to most of these festivals, La Preghiera, a spectacularly restored monastic outpost on the pilgrimage route between Gubbio and Cortona, is offering luxurious rooms at only 200 Euro during September, including buffet breakfast. Check out La Preghiera.

Don't know where Umbria is? Check out our Umbria Map.