Posts Tagged ‘week end’

Following on from the enormous success of last year’s edition of the Farigliano Nativity Scene Exhibition and market featuring nativity scenes from around the world, the organisers have been busy preparing this year’s edition: the fifth time this Christmas flavour event has been held in this town in Piedmont, Italy.

In keeping with the Christmas spirit of giving, all profits from the nativity scene market will be donated to needy families in, Fortalesa, Brazil. The Fortalesa project is run by Roman Catholic missionary Father Renato Chiesa who dedicates his time to help look after street kids and poor families.

At Farigliano’s nativity scene exhibition, visitors will be able to admire and acquire nativity scenes from all over the world. There will be traditional nativity scenes from places as diverse as Colombia, Indonesia, Ruanda and Myanmar. Poland and Russia will be represented too, with examples of lovingly constructed nativity scenes in wood and in the distinctive biedermeier style.

Both young and old will find much to fascinate them at the Farigliano nativity scene exhibition. Indeed, for collectors of nativity scenes, or those wishing to start, this is a fair which is not to be missed.

Not only will the Christmasy atmosphere of Farigliano be graced by the plethora of nativity scenes, but Farigliano’s craftsmen and women will deck out the town in all manner of Christmas decorations.

The Farigliano nativity scene exhibition is likely to an interesting place for photographers too be too. If you go, don’t forget that camera!  And to keep the cold at bay, head for a local cafe and try thick Italian hot chocolate with a whipped cream topping.

Best of all, this exhibition does not end until the 6 January 2011, so if you find yourself in Italy to celebrate the New Year, why not stay a little longer and visit the nativity scene exhibition?  Here are the opening dates and times:

The nativity exhibition and market can be visited on the 21, 27 and 28 November and the 4 December 2010, and is open from 9am to 12am and then from 3pm to 7pm.  On Sunday 5 December the fair is open all day from 9am to 7pm.  From Wednesday 8 December 2010 until Thursday 6 January 2011.  On Saturdays from 8 Decemeber, the fair opens from 9am to 12am and then in the afternoon from 3pm until 7pm.  On weekdays the fair opens at 3pm and closes at 7pm.

To explore the area around Farigliano, and visit the nativity scene fair, you could stay near Bra in this stunning villa which was once owned by Napoleon: Napoleon’s Villa, Bra, Italy.

You could fly into Turin or Genoa airports. Bra is around an hour’s drive from Turin and is around two hours from Genoa. From Bra to Farigliano takes around half an hour by car.

In Coriano near Rimini, Italy, from the 21 to the 28 November there is this year’s edition of the town’s Olive Oil and Autumn Products Festival. A visit to this celebration of slow food in the picturesque town of Coriano would make a great idea for a weekend break for fans of Italian food.

During Coriano’s Olive Oil and Autumnal Products Festival the town’s streets will be lined with stalls where visitors can sample extra virgin olive oil, and buy a few bottles to take home too. Olive lovers will be able to try fresh olives from the countryside around Coriano. Other locally produced products which you will not find in the average supermarket include truffle honey, tasty local cheeses and, of course, wine. The epicurean highlight of the Coriano autumn food festival is this year’s wine production – vin Nouveau – which is Vino Novello in Italian.

To go with the wine, visitors will also be able to try olive oil based recipes from the past, a Coriano’s residents will be cooking up dishes made by their ancestors to help attract attention to long forgotton recipies from the area’s rich cullinary history. There may well be some interesting gatronomic disoveries to be made at the Coriano food festival.

As well as locally produced slow foods to try and to take home, items made by local craftsmen who specialaise in copper, wrought iron, pottery, and wood can be viewed and purchased too. Coriano’s festival will provide those with Christmas in mind with plenty of Christmas present inspiration.

In addition to the olive oil, the food, the wine, and craftsmen produced goods, there will be shows for young and old, with dancing, and traditional folk music, all of which will help to ensure Coriano’s olive oil fair is a lively event.

Should you like to go along and see what’s happening in Coriano, then you’ll probably need somewhere stay, in which case, you could start by looking at this selection of attractive bed and breakfasts, apartments and guest houses in the Emilia Romagna area of Italy.

Note that Low cost airline Ryan Air flies to nearby Rimini airport from London’s Stansted airport – with flights, at the time of writing, departing on Tuesdays and Thursdays and returning on Sunday afternoons. Coriano is around 15 minutes away from Rimini airport by car.

If you do go to Coriano, don’t forget your camera!

Until the 30 January 2011, the art of photographer Jim Goldberg can be seen in Pordenone in the Fruili region of Italy.  Pordenone is hosting a exhibition dedicated to this critically acclaimed contemporary American photographer.  Goldberg often works with the Magnum photographic agency.  In addition to the exhibition there will be workshops, conferences and discussions with critics and other contemporary artists.

Above all, the exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to see numerous examples of Goldberg’s photography. Over 300 of Goldberg’s photographs will be on display in Pordenone’s Parco 2 exhibition centre designed by eco-friendly architect Thomas Herzog. Goldberg is known for his “politically charged and socially conscious images.”, and visitors will be able to experience the impact of this American photographer’s work first hand.

Images are on display from Goldberg’s book “Rich and Poor“, a kind of photo-documentary which contrasts pictorially the lives of the impoverished and marginalised living in squalor with those of the rich living in splendour. So powerful were the “Rich and Poor” images that Goldberg’s book was selected as one of the 20th century’s greatest photobooks.

Other powerful images laced with social comment on display in Pordenone come from Goldberg’s “American Outsiders” series, with its memorable portraits of marginalised youngsters.  Some of Goldberg’s captures show people who are escaping from war, violence, oppression, Aids and reality in search of a better life in Europe.

Goldberg’s photographs are an ensemble of human emotions, capturing misery, hope, the search for happiness, the desire to start afresh and love of life. The overriding theme is that is that of naked pure, and at times, harsh, reality. Such is Goldberg’s abilty to capture human emotion photographically that he has been engaged by the likes of Dolce and Gabbana to prepare inspiring images for the Italian fashion house’s advertising campaigns.

The Goldberg exhibition in Pordenone, Italy runs from now until the 30 January 2011 and admission is free. Pordenone’s Parco 2 exhibition centre can be found in Via Bertossi, 9 in Pordenone.

The opening times are as follows:

• Monday to Friday: 3pm to 7pm

• Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: 10am to 8pm

Photographers and art lovers will find this opportunity to see Goldberg’s work up close and personal unmissable. If you do decide to head to Pordenone to see Goldberg, then think about staying in this lovely apartment in Sesto al Reghena which is 20 minutes from Pordenone by car.

The closest airport to Pordenone is Venice, with Pordenone being around 50 kilometres (c. 30 miles) from Venice.