Brigolante holiday rentals in Assisi, Umbria

Self-catering apartments in Assisi's town center and nearby countryside.
5 comments

Il Mercato delle Gaite: There’s nothing Ye Olde about it!

I have to fess up and admit that it took me years to finally work up the courage to check out what turned out to be one of my favorite festivals in Umbria.

My only other contact with anything resembling a medieval fair was the now defunct King Richard’s Faire outside Chicago, which is an event roughly 1/3 kitsch, 1/3 tacky, and 1/3 fat, badly dressed midwesterners (I feel I can say this with impunity, being myself a fat, badly dressed midwesterner).    Actors wandered around the fairgrounds in costumes which can be described only as flower child 1980s Shakespearean, chitchatting in ye olde English, and selling “jars of mead” (Budweiser) and “sweet water” (Coke) from handbaskets.  The food was whole turkey legs, eaten with one’s hands, and funnel cakes.  The crafts were dried flower arrangements and toy swords.  I loved it, to be fair.  But I was 8, to be honest.  When I was 8, the height of cuisine was chili-mac, the height of fine wine was Lancers (Grandma drank it), the height of music was K-Tel’s Disco Nights, and the height of culture was King Richard’s Faire.

So it was with much trepidation that I approached the Mercato delle Gaite in Bevagna, imagining obnoxious jesters, marauding costumed concessionary hawkers, and just simply too much bad taste for my grownup self to handle.  Instead, this ten day long festival set in the 1300s is the antithesis to all of that, and a damned good time for both adults and kids, to boot.

One of the principal differences is that the annual event—founded in 1983–is not simply entertainment but instead a competition between the four traditional gaite, or quarters, of the town of Bevagna:  San Giorgio, San Pietro, San Giovanni, and Santa Maria.  Each quarter earns points primarily based on their historical accuracy during each of the four competitions held during the festival;  continuous and quite rigorous accademic research goes on behind the scenes and the festival’s jury is largely made up of historians and experts on fourteenth century Italy.  Like I said, there ain’t no ye olde English-esque stuff going on.

The coat of arms for San Giorgio

San Giovanni's coat of arms

San Pietro flies these colors

The crest of Santa Maria

Another difference between the two festivals is, of course, the venue.  Bevagna is an absolute jewel in the Umbrian plain, listed among the most beautiful villages in Italy.  The festival’s four competitions all take place in the lovely main piazza, and the medieval streets, buildings, and courtyards which surround it.  A charming place to visit all year round, this town really shines when all decked out for their annual festival.

The most important difference is, of course, the events themselves, four in all, which make up the competition between the gaite—first among them the mestieri, or artisan workshops.  Each quarter has the task of organizing two different workshops which use both the techniques and technology of the 1300s to actually produce wares—which makes the Mercato delle Gaite unique in a region where medieval festivals come a dime a dozen.

The bell foundry...one of the "mestieri"

Over the years some of the less successful workshops have been replaced, others enlarged (this slow but constant evolution means that the trades have become more elaborate and spectacular with time), and now all are marvelous and fascinating.

The immense replica silk thread making machine

From the silk workshop–which raises silkworms, unravels the cocoons, and spins fine thread on a manual wooden contraption which fills an entire room and looks as if it jumped right out of one of da Vinci’s sketchpads of marvelous machines—to the paper workshop—which produces fine handcrafted paper by pounding rags with an enormous pulper powered by a waterwheel—to the bell foundry—which casts bronze bells on commission from churches and historical societies all over Italy—each workshop is manned by artisans in period garb who explain their trade as practiced 700 years ago.  There are ten mestieri in all (two are permanent and non-competing) open to the public every night from 9-12 pm and Saturday and Sunday from 5-7 pm and again from 9-12 pm.

The apothecary's workshop

As long as you are headed into town to see the workshops, plan to have dinner at one of the four taverne (outdoor restaurants) organized by each gaita.  The second competition which takes place during the festival–and figures into calculating the victor–is gastronomic.   Each quarter of the city researches recipes and ingredients used in fourteenth century cuisine and offers the public a chance to taste the fruits of this research by creating a menu exclusively made up of historical dishes.  The fare is heavy on meat (especially game), spices (this year I had a spice lasagna which was fabulous), and egg pasta and bread.  You won’t find tomatoes (no tomato sauce on your tagliatelle), potatoes (no gnocchi), corn (no polenta), or any other ingredients which were brought back from the New World 200 years after the time of the gaite.

A banquet with period food and costumes

After dinner and before making the rounds of the workshops, you can stop in the central Piazza Silvestri and watch a series of theatrical and musical events in costume, or the archery contest (the third of the four competitions during the festival).  Especially interesting is the Notte Medievale, a dusk to dawn medieval festival-within-a-festival with a full night of art, music, dance, and food.

Archers from the four Gaite prepare to compete in the piazza

The highpoint of the festivities, and the origin of the name Mercato delle Gaite, is the medieval market which takes place during the afternoons of the final weekend.  Each quarter organizes a working market, where locals play artists, artisans, tradespeople, and farmers displaying their wares—the competition consists in trying to create the most interesting, artistic, and historically accurate market square.  The feel of these markets really is a step back in time…each teems with customers weaving their way through the market booths, the din of the tradespeople hawking their wares and the live animals protesting their confinement, the smell of fresh flowers and herbs, cheeses, and dried sausages, the colorful garb of the costumed sellers and their stalls heaped with wares.

A market scene

I suppose the one thing the Mercato delle Gaite and King Richard’s Faire have in common is that you will find yourself inevitably bringing something home from both…what you end up bringing away with you from Bevagna, however, will never be a source of buyer’s remorse.

These photos were reproduced with permission of the  Associazione Mercato delle Gaite.

5 Comments

  1. bettini |

    Thanks for the article Rebecca! We will in the area for the last few days of the Mercato this year. How much “themed” activity is going on during the day? Will we be able to get a good flavor for things if we were just to stop by for a few hours during the daytime? Or is it necessary to show up in the evenings to fully participate?

    Many thanks,

    Bettini

    • rebecca |

      Hi Bettini! Yes, you can absolutely get a good flavor of things during the day…most of the workshops are open in the afternoon during the festival (four are open all year round). Of course, it is very special at night lit by torches and after a good dinner in the open-air taverna, but a day visit can certainly suffice in a pinch! Enjoy…

  2. kelly morlacci |

    Thank you for all your help. I have planned almost all of our trip based on your blog. Can you tell me, will the festival be extremely crowded on the weekend? Is it better to visit during the week? thanks.

    • rebecca |

      Hi Kelly,

      Yes, the weekends get pretty crazy…I would suggest heading there on a weeknight!