Tuscany in October and the Mushroom and Chestnut Festival 2012

If you prefer to go on holiday in the autumn then you may want to consider Tuscany as being your late summer/early autumn getaway destination.

With the crowds of tourists thinning out, the temperatures dropping as well as the airfares, and with autumnal gastronomic delights, such as wild mushrooms and truffles, beginning to make their way from the stunningly diverse landscape and onto the plate of many an Italian food lover, the autumn is an exceptionally unique time to experience Tuscany.

Asides the fresher air, lack of crowds, cheaper prices and delicious seasonal cuisine, Tuscany in the autumn is home to hectic events calendar that are simply calling to be visited, such as the Mushroom and Chestnut Festival – Sagra del Fungo e della Castagna.

Taking place each year on the last Sunday of October, this stoutly traditional festival dates back to 714 when a possession made its way through the small hillside town of Vivo d’Orcia.

The festival has naturally evolved somewhat over the centuries and has latterly been recognised as a mushroom and chestnut festival whereby various buffoonery and competitions take place.

Visitors of Tuscany in October can also participate in various nature walks in the beautiful surrounding countryside, in which a walk leader will explain the different species of mushrooms and truffles.

After a day of fun, exercise and exertion, the mushroom and truffle revellers then dive into any one, or several if they really have an appetite, of the range of local porcini mushroom dishes that are served at this utterly absorbing mushroom and Chestnut festival.

For those that are not ‘au fait’ with the term porcini mushrooms, they are a delicacy of Italy, particularly Tuscany that is typically eaten in the autumn. The word ‘porcini’ translates as ‘piglet’, which is likely to be due to the fact that these delicious large and fat Italian mushrooms do in actual fact resemble a pig!