Page 224 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sicily

222  tr a vellers ’ needs

1624 and painted Saint Rosalia Brass Group, an association
interceding to rescue the town that promotes this genre of
from the plague. In August, music, has its headquarters in
Piazza Armerina celebrates a historic building called Lo
its French heritage with the Spasimo, which is also home
Palio dei Normanni (see p43). to the Sicilian Jazz Orchestra.
The three days of festivities In Catania the best place for
begin with a re-enactment live music is La Chiave, where
of Roger I’s entrance into the they play blues on Thursdays
town and culminate in a and jazz on Sundays.
medieval tournament.
Christmas is the occasion Nightlife
for a number of festivals. The
town of Agira, near Enna, is Sicily’s lively nightlife centres
the setting of the only on the cities in winter and the
Presepe Vivente (Nativity tourist resorts in summer. Discos
play) in Italy to take place on often charge a cover fee that
Carnival time in Sicily spells a week of Christmas night. More than can be as high as €20.
crowds and colour 100 players in period costume Palermo has its share of
take part in the festival, which pubs, including Mikalsa,
featuring dance, traditional also features ancient crafts Agricantus and Cambio
costumes and music. such as spinning, carpentry Cavalli. New musical talent is
Noto also welcomes spring, and pasta-making. showcased at the Biergarten,
but not until the third week in Another fascinating Presepe I Candelai and Malox. Popular
May, with L’Infiorata (see p42), Vivente is played out in the discos in the inner city are
which sees the laying down northwestern town of Tonnara Florio, in the ancient
of a carpet of flowers arranged Custonaci, in a cave called district of Arenella, the Anticlea
to depict religious or Grotta Mangiapane, named Pub and the Country Club,
mythological themes. after the family that lived in it whose large dance floors
Easter is an important time from the 1800s until 1945. become open-air in summer.
for religious festivals. In Outside central Palermo are
Caltanissetta, a week is given Traditional and well-known discos like Il Moro
over to processions, including and Kandinsky Florio.
the Good Friday carrying of a Popular Music Located just out of Catania is
crucifix made of black wood, Traditional Sicilian folk music Banacher, an outdoor club that
which was found in a cave in has a loyal following. Among attracts a mix of locals and
1625 (see p42). A week-long the best-known exponents tourists; here you can dance
festival held in Enna are Carmelo Salemi and amid a maze of plants.
culminates on Easter Sunday, Giancarlo Parisi, players of Buzzing Taormina caters for all
when images of Christ and the the zampogna (bagpipes), tastes, from casual cafés to late-
Madonna are brought together friscalettu and other Sicilian night discos. La Giara is a
in the Piazza Duomo (see p42). wind instruments. They are popular apéritif and after-dinner
Trapani’s Mystery Procession regular performers at festivals drink spot that does not get
(see p42) is almost 400 years such as Agrigento’s Folklore crowded until after 10pm. Bar
old. Winding its way through Festival (see p45), Taormina’s Morgana is for the young and
the town, it showcases 20 Womad, Palermo’s World fashionable and is open till late.
wooden and fabric sculptures Festival on the Beach and In the seaside town of Giardini
embellished with silver, and the Ortygia Festival. Naxos is Marabù, a beautiful
each one is carried on the Jazz also finds a dedicated open-air disco where you can
shoulders of at least ten men. audience. The Palermo-based dance until the early hours.
Caltigirone produces a
dazzling spectacle for the feast
of its patron saint, the Festa di
San Giacomo (see p43), with
4,000 candles illuminating the
142 steps of the Scala di Santa
Maria del Monte.
In July, the feast day of the
patron saint of Palermo, Santa
Rosalia (see p43), involves
actors and musicians
recreating the arrival of the
Flemish painter Antony van
Dyck, who visited Palermo in Catania boasts one of the most vivacious nightlife scenes in Sicily

SC_220-223.indd 222 18/11/2014 16:26
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