Four days of events and initiatives in Rufina to celebrate wine and typical local products. This is the “Bacco Artigiano”, an event now in its forty-seventh edition, which will take place from 29 September to 2 October with some novelties and the intact charm of tradition.
The 2022 edition of Bacchus will be officially inaugurated at Villa Poggio Reale.
Thursday 29 September at 5.30 pm, starting a program full of events, which sees its protagonist in the famous wine of the Chianti Rufina Consortium.
“After Covid, we are back to normal with the most important festival in the Municipality of Rufina and the entire Val di Sieve – comments the mayor of Rufina Vito Maida. This edition of the Bacco Artigiano has a very rich program, which involves local associations and all producers of the Chianti Rufina Consortium. The Bacchus takes place in four squares: Villa Poggio Reale, piazza Umberto I °, piazza Primo Maggio and piazza del Municipio, where there will be art, culture, crafts, shows, traditions, gastronomy and above all wine, our product par excellence ”.
On Thursday 29 September all the art exhibitions hosted in Villa Poggio Reale and the restaurant inside the wine shop will be open. Also in the park of the Villa there will be musical moments and the traditional Chianti Rufina wine tastings. In piazza 1 ° Maggio at 9.00 pm the concert of Vasco Rossi’s tribute band “La combriccola del Blasco”.
Friday 30 September the program begins with the ecological initiative “Let’s clean up the world”, followed by music and shows at Villa Poggio Reale, the musical “The singing crickets” in Piazza Umberto I °, the starlings in Piazza del Municipio and the review of dance in piazza I ° Maggio, just to mention a few.
Saturday 1 October in Florence will take place the re-enactment of the “Offer of the wine of the countryside to the Signoria of Florence”, the ritual in use at the time of the Florentine Republic to celebrate the arrival of wine from the countryside in the city of Florence. the Carro Matto will parade, the long cart loaded with hundreds of wine flasks, arranged in a pyramid, pulled by the typical Chianina “bovi”. The appointment is at 15:30 in Piazza Duomo, from where the Carro Matto, the procession of the Florentine Republic and the Historical Procession of Wine and the County of Rufina will move through the streets of the historic center. The commemoration, directed by Filippo Giovannelli, first sees the blessing of the wine by the Religious wine cruet to the Church of San Carlo dei Lombardi and finally the Benedetto del Carro Matto wine offer to the Signoria of Florence in Piazza Duomo.
“In Florence – explains the president of the Calcio Storico Fiorentino and special adviser for Popular Traditions Michele Pierguidi – we are used to calling the Bacchus Artisan the” Crazy Cart “. Because everyone is amazed to see this magnificent cart, pulled by oxen, with so many wine flasks stuffed by Rufina artisans and volunteers that cross the historic center of the city and then go to symbolically deliver the flasks to the city authorities. It is one of the most loved events by the procession of the Florentine Republic which will also be present at Rufina. Rufina’s administration is always a pleasure and an honor for us “.
The history of this event goes back a long way. On the Arengario of Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria, the Mayor of the community of Rufina offered the city of Florence the Chianti wine together with the keys of the “County of Turicchi”. A traditional chariot surmounted by a pyramid of 1500 flasks full of Chianti, pulled by the typical Chianina “bovi”, historically portrayed in the most beautiful historical photos of the Alinari brothers. The “Carro Matto”, as it was baptized, is a work of exceptional constructive mastery by the master winemakers of the Val di Sieve now gathered in the Committee for the Crazy Car of Rufina. The “Flasks”, typical pot-bellied glass containers lined with straw, are stacked in a pyramid and intertwined with straw and natural ligaments in order to contain each other. An ingenious transport system that allowed the cart to transport large quantities of wine from the countryside to the city.
Meanwhile, in Rufina, the day will flow between the Bacchus Market and the numerous musical events, the demonstration of the Dog Center “Le Rose Canine”, the shows for children and magic, culminating at 9.00 pm with the “Lorenzo Baglioni show” in piazza 1 ° Maggio.
Sunday 2 October still lots of music, the exhibition of vintage cars, the fashion show and the last day of the basketball tournament that takes place throughout the arch of the Bacchus Artisan. An appointment not to be missed at 5.00 pm for the Historical Reenactment and parade of the Historical Parade of the Florentine Republic, Historical Parade of Wine and the County of Rufina.
The grand finale is at 10:45 pm with the fireworks display that will close an edition of the Bacchus particularly rich in events and initiatives.
