Italian sounds for Italian wine: musician Pierantonio was not only in demand as a mood maker at the Festa del Vino. He also played at a wedding at the town hall. Photo: Brandl
The Carrara wine festival on the town hall square is slowly coming to an end for this year. The wine will flow here until Saturday 13 August. So there is still time to sit down, enjoy Italian flair with music and typical Italian cuisine with pizza, focaccia and Parma ham.
Many guests have already made use of this in the past two weeks, as co-organizer Michaela König reports. “It went well. Many regular guests from the past also visited us. Some booked three days in a row,” she says. Many guests were also gratifyingly generous and chose fine wines.
A repeat was long uncertain
Like many other festivals, the Festa del Vino has been canceled for the past two years due to the pandemic. It was long uncertain whether it would work out again this year. “It was a long tremor. But people were happy about it, because otherwise the festival might have burned out forever,” says König. For many guests, visiting the festival also meant seeing people they hadn’t seen for a long time. And there was even dancing, says König.
Musician Pierantonio, who provides the right musical accompaniment every night at the festival with catchy Italian tunes and evergreens, has even been booked for a guest appearance at a wedding next door at the historic town hall. “The bride was our guest and asked if he would play some Italian love songs,” she says. Of course, Pierantonio agreed without asking for a fee. “The couple was very touched,” König recalled last Saturday.
As reported to our newspaper, some residents are critical of the two-week sound reinforcement every night with repetitive Italian music repertoire. However, relatively few complaints have been brought to the organizers. “It was generally quiet, there was more in previous years,” says König.
Cozy, good wine and delicious food
On Wednesday, Günther and Maria van Kösching also mingled with the guests. “We were here many times before Corona. We love the music and the conviviality at the festival. But the food and wine are also very good,” they said enthusiastically. Ingolstadt’s sister city Carrara – the town partnership celebrates its 60th anniversary this year – the two know from many visits to the club and from holiday trips, they reveal before turning back to their pizza.
For Giovanni Frediani and Gianni Musetti, the two figureheads in the Carrara team, a pleasant but also busy time in Ingolstadt comes to an end. “We are happy that despite Corona we could be here for the people in Ingolstadt,” says Musetti. “People were happy to see us again,” adds Frediani. homesick? “We feel good here, but we are also happy that we will see our families, children and grandchildren again soon,” say the two and thank the city and the guests for the good time, combined with the hope that the Festa del Vino can take place again next year.
For Michaela König from Ingolstadt, who spends a lot of time in Italy during the year, planning is gradually moving towards the next big festival: The Beer Festival in Carrara, which will take place from 25 August to 10 October in Ingolstadt’s twin town. Of course also with beer from Ingolstadt, as she says.