La Festa della Colombina…the festival of the little dove…is to be held on 19th May in the beautiful Villa Fiori Park in Ponte a Serraglio.
There was a tradition in the late 1800s to bake bread in the shape of a dove and serve it in the Ponte a Serraglio cafes. There will be an opportunity to taste Colombina in the park along with other treats.
Stalls selling local products will be there and you will be able to join in games from the time of our grandparents…adults and children together.
For a small fee it will be possible to paint your own Colombina…a small statuette designed by Maureen Halson. Here are 2 we prepared earlier.
I walked past the Villa Fiori Park a little while ago and the gardener was there preparing the park for us. I hope you will all come from about 10.00am on Sunday 19th May for what I am sure will be a fun day. There is lots of parking beside the Park.
As well as this, on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May the Croce Rossa Italiana, (Red Cross) Bagni di Lucca branch, will be presenting a health care information event.
It is to be held in the piazza in front of the Circolo dei Forestieri from 3.00pm – 6.30pm on Saturday and on Sunday from 10.00am – 1.00pm and 3.00pm – 6.30pm. It is free of charge. I think everyone should attend this…I’m sure we would all like to lead healthy lives.
From now until 18th May check what is happening at Teatro Accademico. The School Theatre Festival, which has been running for 20 years is on over the next few weeks, with performances by local school children. To see more about this step over to From London to Longoio.
I had a small complaint recently that I only talk about events after they have happened. It is not always easy to know what is going on in the area. I try to keep my eyes and ears open, but often things are not all that well publicised.
If you are organising and event, or know of something happening, and you would like to me to talk about it, please email me at debrakolkka@gmail.com and I will do my best to write about it on the blog.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 
Debra, you are such a font of knowledge about the area, I hope you don’t mind my silly off subject questions. I’m curious about the two turrets near the walking bridge. Do they have a story to tell? Also, I would like you to take us for a walk North of your ponte. Looks like the village extents toward the mountain for quite a way. You may have shown us pics of the area without me knowing where I was, like the winter walks. I haven’t seen the rest of Italy but I really can’t imagine anywhere as lovely as the Lucca area!!! It is so trite to be in love with Tuscany. It is pointless to resist. Molto grazie for sharing. Marsha
There are actually 3 turrets in the park beside the bridge. I don’t know much about them except that they belong to Villa Fiori. The one beside the bridge and another on the edge of the property were covered with vines when I first went to Bagni di Lucca and you couldn’t see them at all. They were uncovered when the walking bridge was built.
When you talk about the winter walk, do you mean the one with Paola Moschini, or are you referring just to my blog? I have been to most of the mountain villages to take photos. If you look through the archives you will find posts on many of the 25 villages that make up Bagni di Lucca.
Now that the weather is improving I will start visiting the villages again to discover new things.
Thanks Debra, I have been through the archives and will again, wonderful. Just now I’m curious about what looks like more Ponte a Serraglio beyond the Ponte at your place. Before the river makes another turn.
Three turrets! Well perhaps I will run across their story one day. I wonder could they be play structures since they are small. What do you think? Cheers, Marsha
Thanks for pointing to my blog Debra ref. theatre festival
Thank you for informing me of the event. It isn’t easy sometimes to know what is going on in the area.
Regarding the villa fiore turrets – I suspect they served no really useful purpose but are ornamental garden “follies” in the manner of that 18th century landscape architect Batty Langley. What is interesting is that they are built in gothick style in contrast to the classical villa Fiori.
Thanks for the explanation. It is interesting that the 3 are quite different from each other. They look like little sentry posts, but there would never have been a need for that.
Debra,
I do wish it were easier to find out about area happenings. We often are disappointed to hear about events after they happen. It is especially troublesome for those of us who are there for a short time and must rely on word of mouth. I must say, I do miss Leda at the tourist information office. She had become a friend with a warm and inviting manner who was always ready to share knowledge and information about upcoming events.
The new girl at the information centre is good too, but they can only tell you what they know about and people often let them know of events. Sometimes the only way of knowing something is on is to find a small poster in the bar or stuck to a tree, or someone tells you about it. I went to the amazing archery competition last year in La Villa and I was one of only a handful of people watching…very disappointing.