Festa Aprilante Panzano + Eroica

Panzano Allegro con Brio and Bikes

Giocondo Fagioli and his baskets made of rushes he gathers himself

In Panzano in Chianti every first Sunday of the month, every month of the year,  the Festa Aprilante is held. This is a market which stretches from the main square on the 222 all the way up towards the church and along the street where Cecchini the butcher reigns.

fleamarket items

something old, something antique

local produce: wine, oil and onions

this stall specialises in dolls' clothes

Alongside the regular Sunday market fruit and veg, cheese, roast chicken clothing, hats, haberdashery and plant stalls there are neat white stands selling antiques, handcrafts, local produce, junk, books, prints, artwork, food, jewellery and odds and ends. The photos here show only a sampling...The market varies from month to month, depending on who decides to set up a stall, but some stands are there every time.  

wooden spoons and boards made of local types of wood

local ceramics, cushions...

preserves, relishes and jams...

This is the one market in the region where you don't need a permit, just turn up and you can sell your wares: however a certain protocol applies to the location of your stall: well-established stalls have precedence. 

our friendly weekly fruit and veg stall

very good cheese stall with cheeses from all over Italy

roast chickens, fresh bread on a Sunday and other delights

This October Sunday the market coincided with the Eroica bicycle race so the atmosphere was more than usually festive with bike riders in antiquated costumes, on antiquated bikes, zipping past to great acclaim. 

Cecchini's pitstop for the Eroica contestants

the outfits are historical

But it is always a bright moment in the month when locals and tourists alike have a stroll and a peek at the wares. A little polite bargaining is not frowned upon but the Tuscans are pretty tough bargainers.

view from near market

a young hero making his way to Panzano