You usually think of Holland when talking about tulips or tulip celebrations. So, as a traveler to Italy, you might be surprised to hear that there is also a huge tulip festival in the country that many people know primarily for its excellent wine, pasta, pizza, and other typical Italian foods.

Castiglione del Lago, Pg (province of Perugia) is a small picturesque town, located on a peninsula on Lake Trasimeno, the “Umbrian Sea”. Since 1956 the inhabitants of Castiglione celebrate the “Festa del Tulipano” every year in spring.

The whole town is decorated with tulip flowers and the locals compete with each other who creates the most beautiful decorations on windows and balconies and wins one of the prizes awarded by the harsh local jury.

During the five days of the tulip festival you can enjoy entertainment almost all day.

There are street theaters, street musicians, folk dance groups, marching bands, processions and games of the “Nobles” and the “Plain People” with historical costumes, transmitted in the ancient Chronicles. On Sunday, the festival culminates with a large procession with carts decorated with flowers, displaying allegorical and satirical motifs. Each car also represents one of the “rioni”, the neighborhoods of the town, displaying the colors of the neighborhood. For these cars, literally thousands of tulip flowers (usually the ones that are too short to sell) are painstakingly arranged in artistic compositions.

Of course, since food plays an important role in Italy, there are also many culinary delights.

Taverns are installed throughout the city, where visitors can taste typical dishes based on original medieval and Renaissance Italian recipes.

The tulip festival is firmly anchored in the history of Castiglione, everyone is excited and it is really typical Italian. However, one would like to know “Who invented it?” …

The answer to this question can be found by doing a little research on the Internet. It may surprise you.

Anyway, if you love holidays in Italy and are looking for the authentic experience away from the centers of mass tourism, this is definitely an event you don’t want to miss.