One of our favorite ways to explore Italy is by car. Though there is a pretty good train infrastructure in Italy, we find it is usually more expensive to travel longer distances by train for two people and the train just doesn’t afford us the freedom to get off-the-tourist-path like a car does. As we passed the little mountain villages on our way to Valbondione to hike to Italy’s highest waterfall, we noticed balcony after balcony adorned with blue and white flags and blue and white streamers. A handwritten roadside sign that simply said “Gromo Medivale 18 Agosto” (or Gromo Medieval Fair on August 18) explained that baby boys weren’t mysteriously born to an entire village at the same time and instead, there was a festival that day.
Exhausted from our 6 mile hike, we nearly didn’t stop to check out the festival, but I’m glad we did! Gromo is said to be one of the most beautiful villages of Italy, and it was made even more so with the striking green Bergamo Alps surrounding it and the Serio River rushing below. Once famous for its antiquity for the silver and iron mines and the manufacture of weapons, Gromo today is mostly unaltered and has preserved its Medieval flavor.
Each August, Gromo celebrates its Medieval past with the Gromo Medieval Fair. As we wandered the streets, we saw traditional old crafts like weaving, embroidery, wood sculpting, and minting silver coins.
Gromo’s 1200 or so citizens get into the Medieval spirit and dress in costume. There is even a costume parade in the evening! In case you arrived in Gromo not in costume like us, there is a shop in the castle selling Medieval costumes or you could just purchase a hair wreath being woven with flowers and ribbon from one of the little stalls lining the cobbled streets.
Medieval weapons and suits of armor and even a chastity belt were on display in shops set-up as make-shift museums and open for free to the public.
Piazza Dante is the heart of the Gromo Medieval Fair where a stage is set up in front the the Town Hall and impromptu entertainment like sword fighting, falconry displays, and musical performances take place in the piazza amongst the hay bales set up as seats. Grab a beer or sangria and gnocchi or french fries to snack on and just take it all in.
Know Before You Go
- The Gromo Medieval Fair takes place each year on August 18. The festival is free, but bring Euro for food booths and any souvenirs.
- Gromo is located about 100 kilometers from Milan in Lombardy. The closest airport and train station are in Bergamo and it can only be reached by car.
- Gromo is car-free during the festival, but there is plenty of parking just below the village for €2.
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Val says
This looks like a really fun festival!
Frank says
Nice post Jennifer. Cool owl. Is that a medieval bra on the suit of armour? Or made for some fat count with man-boobs?
Pretty looking town!
Frank
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We never did figure out what was up with the Medieval bra on the suit of armour. We’ll leave that to your imagination! 😉
Jennifer says
It was! Glad we stumbled on it!
Cathy Sweeney says
What a great festival. Sometimes those snap decisions bring about the most fun. Gromo would be my kind of village to visit.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We were so exhausted from the hike and then push-starting our car when we left the lights on and killed the battery. We Googled the festival and really didn’t see much online. It turned out to be much larger than we expected, so we were really glad we didn’t just pass it by!
YJ says
This is such an interesting place! I love medieval towns and I went to a similar one called Eze village in Southern France. Though they have a tendency to be filled with touristy shops but we still loved it. Will definitely consider visiting Gromo in the future!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Gromo is the complete opposite. Nothing touristy about the town at all! I don’t think it sees much tourism from foreigners since it’s a bit hard to reach unless you have rented a car.
YJ says
thats great! what a lovely place
Marina K. Villatoro says
How awesome. I used to go the Renaissance faire yearly in the states. I love these type of festivals.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Us too! We had a terrific Renaissance Festival near Phoenix that we’d go to every year when we lived there. So fun and always awesome food available. Mmm…now I’m craving a turkey leg and bread bowl with soup!
Laurel says
I love festivals, especially medieval ones. This one looks like it was definitely worth the stop, even if you were tired.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It really was! And I think we were about the only non-locals there, so it was a real find.
Heather says
This is right up my alley! I was obsessed with the stories about King Arthur and Camelot when I was a kid and am still drawn to anything medieval. Have you seen the show Merlin, by chance? 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
No, I haven’t seen Merlin. But I love Medieval fairs like this. We had an awesome one that happened annually in Arizona we loved going to when we lived there. It was a month long. Delicious food, jousting, costumes…so fun!
Ali says
Andy would’ve loved this!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was actually a lot of fun. We did a quick Google search trying to decide whether to stop and it looked like there was really nothing going on. How wrong we were!
Abby says
There really is something about an unplanned European festival. Well done! My favorite was the water festival in Lanjaron, Spain. I had been living there awhile and never knew that the home of my favorite bottled water put on quite the party!