Events and Local Specialties

Events are a good opportunity to visit Cagli and Le Marche region. And Cagli is the ideal location to admire the small towns in the North of Le Marche (but also Gubbio, in nearby Umbria). It is also possible hunting truffles in the countryside with local guides and dogs gifted with an infallible nose.

Culture, nature, specialties of local cuisine and truffles, wines, sports: all year round it is possible to select a period of stay at the Bonclerici House holiday home including the dates of historical reenactments, art exhibitions, food and wine festivals or hikes on mountain trails in Cagli and in the nearby.

A few examples:

• January 14, 2024 – Cagli. Palazzo Comunale – Giovanni e Francesco Scaramuzzino and Bruno Canino in “Concert for two mandolins and piano”
• March 5, 2024 – Cagli. Cathedral – Laura Muncaciu and Giovanna Franzoni in “Concert for organ and voice”
• March 9, 2024 – Cagli (Monte Petrano) – Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race. Arrival of the Sassoferrato-Cagli (Monte Petrano) stage
• March 29, 2024 – Cantiano – La Turba. Good Friday’s Passion play
• March 29, 2024 – Cagli – The Good Friday processions
• April 8 -14, 2024 – Cagli – Pesaro italian capital of culture. Events in Cagli
• May 9-10, 2024 – Cagli – Spaghetti and lasagne feast. Dinner in the garden and free cooking lessons of home made pasta by Bonclerici House
• May 15, 2024 – Gubbio – The Candles’ race
• May 23-24, 2024 – Cagli – Spaghetti and lasagne feast. Dinner in the garden and free cooking lessons of home made pasta by Bonclerici House
• May 25, 2024 – Pianello di Cagli. “Piaceri DiVini”. Season specialties in the village’s restaurants. Tasting of regional wines. Live music
• June 6-7, 2024 – Cagli – Spaghetti and lasagne feast. Dinner in the garden and free cooking lessons of home made pasta by Bonclerici House
• June 16, 2024 – Pianello di Cagli – Sagra della lumaca. Snail’s feast.  Snails based specialties in the village’s restaurants. Tasting of regional wines. Live music
• June 20-21, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of regional wines
• June 29-30, 2024 – Cagli – Griglia in piazza. Grilled meat and fish festival. Outdoor eating in the historic city centre’s square. Live music
• July 4-5, 2024 - Cagli – Free tasting of regional wines
• July 9-10 – Cagli -  Spaghetti and lasagne feast. Dinner in the garden and free cooking lessons of home made pasta by Bonclerici House
• July 27-28, 2024 – Acquaviva di Cagli  – “Tractor Day”. Summer feast. Outside eating in the village’s public garden. Tractors’ parade. Live music
• July 27- 28, 2024 – Furlo di Acqualagna – Black summer truffle feast. Tastings, market and based truffle specialties
• From August 7th to August 23rd – Pesaro – Rossini Opera Festival
• August 9, 2024 – Cagli. Monte Petrano – Observing falling stars. Hike up Monte Petrano and yoga lesson on the summit meadows
• August 11, 2024 – Cagli – Palio dell’Oca. Historical reenactment. Parade in the streets of the old town. Dinner and music for familes
• August 17, 2024 – Cagli – Cagli delle Musiche. Music event in the squares of the old town
• August 25, 2024 – Pianello di Cagli – “Festa dei 4 cantoni”. Season specialties in the village’s restaurants. Tasting of regional wines. Live music
• September 14-15, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of regional wines
• September 19-20, 2024 – Cagli – Spaghetti and lasagne feast. Dinner in the garden and free cooking lessons of home made pasta by Bonclerici House
• September 29-30, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of regional wines
• October 9-10, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of tagliolini with truffle
• October 12-13, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of regional wines
• October 24-25, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of tagliolini with truffle
• October 26 and 27, November 1, 2, 3, 9 and 10, 2024 – Acqualagna – White truffle fair. Tastings, cooking shows, market and based truffle specialties
• November 5, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of tagliolini with truffle
• November 19, 2024 – Cagli – Free tasting of tagliolini with truffle
• From December 7, 2024 to January 6, 2025 – Cagli – Christmas in Cagli
• From December 7, 2024 to January 10, 2025 – Gubbio – The biggest Christmas Tree in the world

Sagras and amazing festivals dedicated to local food and wines take place every year on the same months and week-ends. So even if the dates for 2024 are not yet fixed in the calendar because organizers are not used to comunicate the dates many weeks before, it must be expected that from May to November and during Christmas time there will be several interesting events on every week end.

Every Sunday and feast days from May to October free walks with experienced guides on the roads and the trails of the Natural Reserve of the Gola del Furlo. Walks are free (but it is necessary a reservation), easy and accessible to everybody, including kids and old people. Walks start at 3 p.m.: but in July and August starts are at 3.30pm and 5.30pm. For Info contact Bonclerici House: 0039 (0)721-1708302 info@bonclericihouse.it . The tourist office in the little village of Furlo di Acqualagna also provides free maps to visit every day the Natural Reserve, with its flowers and woods, the two Roman tunnels and the romanesque abbey.

Profit by the free entrance to Palazzo Ducale in Urbino, every month on the first Sunday of the month, to visit the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, one of the most important museums in Italy.

Many events which take place in Cagli and in the nearby picturesque villages, are festivals dedicated to authentic local cuisine. The most typical ones are called sagra (rural festival) and are held between May and September. Local residents serve home-made food such as pasta, polenta and roast game, accompanied by bands playing popular songs. People dance and savour the authentic foods, both home-made as well as prepared by expert chefs, all continuing old village traditions. Local food is an integral part of the culture of the region, and the local wines from around Cagli, such as the white Bianchello del Metauro, ideal for fish, and the red Vernaccia, ideal for roast beef, lamb, pork and game are really worth tasting for those who do not know them yet.

The sagre that take place in the countryside around Cagli can be in honour of a patron saint and involve a mass or a blessing, together with dinner served in the open air, music and dancing. Nevertheless most of the times the program of the feast comprises only lunch and dinner, stands to buy typical products and the music in the night. Around Cagli in May you will find the sagra della fava e del formaggio (festival of broad beans and cheese), the sagra del fungo spignolo (festival of the spignolo mushroom), and in August the sagra del coniglio in porchetta (festival of the rabbit), and in August/September the sagra della polenta (polenta festival). All are unique opportunities to taste authentic local cuisine without breaking the bank. Similarly, wine festivals are held from May to October.

Truffle festivals, which celebrate the local delicacy, the truffle, are held in nearby Acqualagna during Carnival time (bianchetto truffle), in the last weekend of July (black summer truffle), and in the first half of November (white truffle). The drive to Acqualagna is an easy 10 kilometers from Cagli which makes the Bonclerici House apartments the perfect accommodation for those who are interested not only in truffles but also in art, history and hiking. Other truffle and mushroom festivals take place every weekend in October and November in different villages around Cagli, which makes this an ideal place to stay for sampling truffle-based dishes in a festive atmosphere.

The Griglia in the Piazza, a grilled meat feast, takes place on the last weekend of June in the centre of Cagli, against the magnificent backdrop of the main square, where every weekend in July events like live concerts or handicraft markets enliven people sitting at the tables outside the cafés for a drink or a gelato. On the second Sunday of August  the spectacular Palio dell’Oca is held in Cagli. This is a competition between the four quarters of the town, which dates back to the Renaissance, and involves a grand parade in historical dress through the main streets and squares of the town. During the weekend you can enjoy outdoor eating in the little squares, and music events at the taverns of old Cagli. 

Easter is a special time for visiting Cagli. The Cagliesi are closely linked to their religious traditions and rituals which date back to medieval times. Residents and relatives returning to their home town, join in the processions and rituals of the confraternities, the local religious and charitable organizations dating back to the Middle Ages. This spectacle makes for an authentic and unforgettable stay in Cagli. There are three processions on Good Friday: in the procession of the night more than three hundred members of the five confraternities wear coveralls with a hood not to be recognized and walk barefoot as a sign of penance. In two nearby villages passion plays prepare the atmosphere for Easter on Maundy Thursday night. Such rituals make a visit to Cagli unmissable. At this time it is traditional to eat home-made crescia di Pasqua, a salt pizza in the shape of a panettone, made with cheese and eggs and served with ham, salami or cheese. These crescia are produced and sold locally and their quality and authenticity are guaranteed.

Many regional specialties can be enjoyed at theit absolute best all year round in Cagli and surrounding villages. Truffle-based dishes, such as tagliatelle, omelette, fillet, are offered in inexpensive as well as starred restaurants. Typical restaurants offer crescia, the regional version of piadina, prepared on an open fire and eaten in slices with ham, salami, cheese, or cicory and grilled vegetables. Home made pasta is prepared by the women of the house. The homely atmosphere is preserved in all the restaurants where dishes such as cappelletti, ravioli or the typical pasta of Le Marche region, called vincisgrassi, are served.

After the dinner, the region offers great examples of dessert wines, the perfect gift for taking home. The visciolata or visner is a sweet red wine made with morello cherries which grow wild in the countryside – perfect to drink with a gelato or a cake. Vin santo is a sweet wine made with naturally-dried white grapes, typical of Le Marche region as well as northern Umbria and Tuscany, perfect for meditation and recommended for dipping cantucci (very dry biscuits) in a small glass.