What Is Ferragosto? Italy’s Biggest Summer Holiday Explained

Ferragosto, celebrated on August 15^th, marks the peak of summer and is Italy’s biggest summer holiday. Italians normally escape the cities — where it is usually scorching hot — and head to the sea or the mountains. The day calls for outdoor meals with family and friends, beach parties with ever-present bonfires, and, invariably, fireworks. But, where does this holiday come from, what does it mean, and is there any traditional food associated with it? Let’s see all of this in detail.

Origins and History

Ferragosto is a Catholic holiday that celebrates the Assumption of Mary into Heaven, i.e., the belief that at the end of her earthly life, the Virgin Mary was taken, body and soul, into Heaven. To be accurate, Ferragosto originates from Feriae Augusti, from the Roman Emperor Augustus. Augustus proclaimed August 1^st a day of rest for farmers, but the Catholic Church later moved the festivity to August 15^th (the day of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), thus integrating the once pagan holiday into the cycle of the Christian year.

What, or better, who made Ferragosto a truly popular holiday, was, much later, Benito Mussolini. Mussolini instituted, indeed, the Treni popolari di Ferragosto, that is, a special, timed train service with extremely cheap fares connecting several Italian cities to encourage — and in some measure allow — many Italians to take a vacation. The offer was limited to 13, 14 and 15 August, hence the name, and was in place from August 2, 1931, to September 1939, when WWII broke out. The initiative did not really mark the beginning of mass tourism (that happened in the WWII aftermath) and it was, in fact, only used by people living in cities and working in factories and offices (which closed for some time over the summer). However, it contributed to popularizing Ferragosto as a period of time (Italians often refer to Ferragosto including the whole week, or weekend, in which Ferragosto falls) to take a vacation.

Ferragosto Today

So, what do Italians do at Ferragosto? Many, if not most, of them are on vacation. If you’re at the sea, or lake: beach parties, falò (bonfires), concerts, and fireworks. Picnics, BBQs, and fireworks, if you’re in the mountains; out-of-town trips, and —guess what— fireworks, if you’re stuck in your city, or maybe you’re visiting a city (which is not so usual for Italians during the August break). Whatever you do, Ferragosto is a somewhat crazy day in which you indulge in some special pleasure, be it staying up the whole night with your friends, having a luxurious meal, or engaging in a water balloon fight with friends. Quite surprisingly, there’s nothing food-related that is specifically associated with Ferragosto. It’s all about local food, and of course, summer-appropriate —so, no food shortage, Heaven forbid!— but no Ferragosto treat or the like. So, no recipes to try out, but you might want to do something special this coming August, 15^th to celebrate your Italian-learning journey. In any case, Buon Ferragosto!