SPRING FESTIVAL
(LAST SUNDAY OF APRIL)
This festival has really ancient origins. It was born in 1676 at the behest of the Duke Ranuccio Farnese and it was one of the main events of Parma and Piacenza’s dukedoms.
At the time, the festival was not celebrated like nowadays on the last week-end of April, but in the days of the patron saints’ Fermo and Rustico festival (9th of August).
Naturally the festivals of that time weren’t like the ones we know today, specialised in particular branches, with the mass-media promoting their peculiarities and with a series of laws and rules that control their execution. The past centuries’ festivals only were big periodic markets that mainly took place during religious celebrations, with the aim of supporting the exchange of the popular handicraft’s artefacts with the countryside’s products. They promoted though the development of many town centres and gave rise to the first bank operations.
(Translated by Laura Fugazzi)