Festa del Grano 2017 - Sassello (SV) - Friday 14, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July 2017 — travel diary by Francesca Bertha

The story

The Proloco of Sassello organises the new edition of the event dedicated to wheat and agriculture with events, shows, demonstrations, food stalls, workshops and activities for young and old. Among the programmes on the calendar stand out the Lumberjack Triathlon, the Baptism of the Saddle for children, the workshop "From wheat to bread", the demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines and the beauty contest "Miss Grano e Mister Farro".

It will have happened to many of us, watching western films, to feel a healthy envy of the cowboys who raced across the prairies on the backs of beautiful horses, or to admire those young and strapping lumberjacks you sometimes happen to see on some satellite channel as they compete with chainsaws, slicing immense tree trunks as if they were salami. They're not only good, but to be honest, sometimes also very handsome, and certainly the beauty of the girls who appear in these film-like images takes your breath away too: those young people seem to have come out of a special beauty contest where, besides physical appearance, what counts is knowing how to embody a healthy, genuine lifestyle, in contact with nature.

During the Festa del Grano that will be held at the Parco Giochi area in Sassello (SV) on Friday 14, Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 July, these film fantasies will become reality and it will be easy to discover that the charm of country life in the Ligurian hinterland even surpasses that of western films. There will be three days of absolute fun in the town that was the first in Italy to be awarded the prestigious tourist-environmental quality mark of the Orange Flags of the Touring Club and that is known, besides for its precious historical-cultural heritage, also for its numerous agricultural and food excellences, from wheat and bread to mushrooms, from cheeses to meat, right up to artisan-made amaretti.

During the three days everyone will be able to see the cowboys of the Ligurian hinterland at work, together with the best lumberjacks and farmers of the area, and besides watching the spectacle of demonstrations of the traditional activities of country life, there will also be opportunities for young and old to get acquainted with the animals at the educational farm, or even to take their first steps on horseback during the "Baptism of the Saddle". Those who, on the other hand, don't feel up to getting in the saddle can take a pleasant carriage ride through the streets of the town, admiring like a grand lord the evocative corners of Sassello.

We're celebrating wheat and indeed, one of the key events of the event will be the demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines: an occasion for a journey back in time, an authentic return to the origins, discovering the wheat supply chain. Both Saturday and Sunday afternoon the children will be able to take part in the educational workshop "From wheat to bread".

Speaking of bread, the food stalls, with the typical products of the area, will await the public every day both at lunch and dinner, and live music will help guarantee the cheerfulness.

Sunday afternoon will bring the moment of the Lumberjack Triathlon, a spectacular sporting event during which the best lumberjacks of Sassello will compete with chainsaws. We'll see the ease with which they'll be able to cut a slice of exactly three kilos from an upturned trunk, and there will be fun to be had also during the wine-glass exercise: placed on a trunk standing upright, the glass containing the good nectar of the vines must come out unharmed from the cutting of a slice no thicker than three centimetres below it. By cutting this slice of wood, the lumberjack will in practice create a plate on which to serve the wine.

Also on Sunday, in the evening, there will be the awaited beauty contest with the participation of many young people from the area, where Miss Grano and Mister Farro will be crowned.

THE PROGRAMME:

Friday 14 July

10.00 Opening of the event

Morning:

Baptism of the Saddle in collaboration with the Associazione Ippica Le Rocce Sales stand of typical products of the area Livestock show and milking demonstration

11.30 Demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines 12.00 Opening of the food stalls. Lunch made with zero-km products

Afternoon:

15.30 Presentation of the wheat supply chain: from threshing to the finished product. Demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines 19.00 Opening of the food stalls with live music. Dinner made with zero-km products During the day: carriage rides through the streets of Sassello

Saturday 15 July

Morning:

Baptism of the Saddle in collaboration with the Associazione Ippica Le Rocce Sales stand of typical products of the area Livestock show and milking demonstration

11.30 Presentation of the wheat supply chain: from threshing to the finished product. Demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines 12.00 Opening of the food stalls. Lunch made with zero-km products

Afternoon:

16.00-16.30 Demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines Educational workshop "From wheat to bread" Registrations for the beauty contest "Miss Grano e Mister Farro" Registrations for the Lumberjack Triathlon race 19.00 Opening of the food stalls with live music. Dinner made with zero-km products During the day: carriage rides through the streets of Sassello

Sunday 16 July

Morning:

Baptism of the Saddle in collaboration with the Associazione Ippica Le Rocce Sales stand of typical products of the area Livestock show and milking demonstration

Afternoon:

Educational workshop "From wheat to bread"

15.00 Lumberjack Triathlon 16.30 Demonstration of wheat threshing with old machines 18.00 Beauty contest "Miss Grano e Mister Farro" 19.00 Opening of the food stalls with live music. Dinner made with zero-km products During the day: carriage rides through the streets of Sassello

For further information and updates: Facebook - Proloco Sassello