A pasta festival in true Italian style

Situated in the central Italian province of Perugia, the ancient town of Foligno hosts the 12th annual ‘Festival Nazionale dei Primi Piatti’ (23-26 September), in a celebration of the ‘first course’ - a mouth-watering Italian culinary tradition. More often referred to as the ‘Pasta Festival’, there is actually a wide selection of ‘primi piatti’ on offer, including soup, rice, gnocchi and polenta.

The festival, organised by Epta-Confcommercio Perugia, is separated into four main areas: tasting, exhibitions, education and entertainment. The ‘Tasting Villages’ serve up samples and tasting menus, such as ‘Flavours of Tuscany’, ‘Tomato’ and ‘Gluten Free’.

In 2008 – a record year - the ‘Festival Nazionale dei Primi Piatti’ cooked up 13,000 pounds of pasta and 2,500 pounds of rice. This year there will be more pasta, rice, herbs, flowers, meat and wine on offer than ever before. Specialist pasta made in strawberry, beer and liquorice flavours are among the more unusual variations worth trying.

Other highlights include ‘pasta art’ (sculptures made from pasta), a dedicated children’s area with tailored cookery classes, as well as more earnest discussions concerning current food issues and plenty of expert chefs on hand to give you cooking and kitchen tips - so you can perfect these pasta recipe ideas.