A regatta, a festival and a great many village fairs
On the second Sunday in October there are two thousand boats in the gulf of Trieste at once, and that is only the most conspicuous of them.
The festivals of Friuli Venezia Giulia are like the region: a few large ones and many small, and nearly all tied to something eaten or drunk.
The Barcolana
On the second Sunday in October Trieste runs the Barcolana, the most crowded sailing regatta in the world: over two thousand boats start together, from dinghies to maxi yachts, and the gulf fills with sails to the horizon. It is best watched from the Strada Napoleonica or from Miramare castle, and the city is in festival for the week before.
In summer, on the coast
Lignano and Grado have a full summer calendar of concerts and fireworks, and at Grado the procession of boats to the island of Barbana, the Perdon de Barbana, has been repeated on the first Sunday in July since 1237. At Marano Lagunare and at the mouth of the Stella there are fish fairs.
In the mountains and the villages
In Carnia and the Val Canale the summer is made of village fairs and mountain-dairy feasts, with cheese made that morning. At Cividale the Palio di San Donato, in late August, stages the Middle Ages for a weekend; Mittelfest, at the same time, brings theatre and music from the countries of Central Europe.
The Epiphany fires
On 5 January bonfires called pignarui are lit all over Friuli, stacks of wood as tall as houses. From the direction of the smoke, tradition says, you can read the coming year. It is not the camping season, but if you pass through in winter it is worth the detour.