October and November are great months for autumn festivals in the mountains. I attended several this year and one of my favourites was the one in Cascio.
Cascio is a tiny village in the Garfagnana. It is of early medieval origin situated on the ancient road linking Modena and Lucca. These days it is a sleepy village basking in the Tuscan sun. It has some wonderful ancient building and they are well preserved.
Hundreds of people descended on the village on the day of the chestnut festival. The little square was full of stalls selling all sorts of interesting things.
People gathered on the grassy field waiting for the chestnuts to be roasted and the food prepared.
Below the village there was another area for food preparation…and eating. The cooks were kept very busy making the pancakes and putting the plates together.
Above the village beside the castle sweets were served. I stopped on the way to admire the view.
The old castle looks wonderful. I will go back one day to explore further.
As I was about to leave a group of musicians and dancers put on a fine show and I stayed to watch.
The Cascio festival is one of the best I have attended. It was a perfect sunny autumn day and everyone had a great time.Look out for it next year. I’m sure you will love it.
Bella Bagni di Lucca 
It looks great, Deb! Thank you for sharing it with us. I saw it advertised, but we were leaving Bagni on the same weekend….
The post was put up before I actually finished it, it is updated now. I loved this festival. I will be back next year.
My best village friend’s wife comes from Cascio. Actually the village was in the front line during the 26th december WWII
whoops …..and several of its buildings were severely damaged.
my cat again….. hence the ruins you can see in one of your photos.
Cascio is a fascinating village. I have been a couple of times. There was actually a traffic jam on the day of the festival.
I love the photo of the two young fellows looking down on the dancers and musicians. Wonderful to see lots of visitors to the village on these festival days.
The setting of this festival was amazing, and it was a glorious day, which always helps.
Love it all… especially the chestnut close ups. Please please just a little of this same brand of fun and festival for Christmas would be a wonderful welcome thing.
You have captured it so well I feel as though I am there. Mind you i would love to be there. Super photos
It was a great day. I really love the local festivals. I didn’t even mind getting caught in the traffic jam on the way out.
You would understand how much I love these festivals. Hundreds of people come out to enjoy the day. The food is great, the scenery amazing and everyone just has fun and gets into the spirit of things.
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