Chestnut Festival

Every year the 3rd weekend of October takes place in Lunano the traditional Chestnut Festival, now in its 46th Edition, organized by the Pro-Loco di Lunano in collaboration with the Municipal Administration.
The chestnut of Lunano is an excellent example of how an "ancient" product can constitute a precious "innovative" resource for the economic development of the territory, contributing also from the point of view of food.
A heritage "rediscovered" and re-proposed to a wide public thanks to the initiatives of the Municipal Administration and the Pro Loco di Lunano.
The festival is part of the characteristic festivals of the Montefeltro that have the aim of promoting the territory, its architectural, naturalistic beauties and typical products.
Today the Chestnut Festival is affirmed at national level, it has about 25,000 presences in the three days of the Festival.
For the occasion in the streets and squares scenes of rural life are repeated and the customs are recovered, along with the trades of the past but also the ancient flavors of a cuisine that celebrates the triumph of products from the land: of course they offer typical dishes that use the chestnuts from the area (in the form of cream or sauce in the preparation of soups or pasta dishes, combined with roast meat, and as roast chestnuts cooked in braziers)
But one certainly can not miss the delicious and now famous chestnut sweets: Bon Bon, Waffles, Jams, Crostate, Castagnaccio, Marron Glassè, Mimosa, Ricotta, corn and puffed rice tortillas.
Like every year, the organization of the festival is made possible by the dozens of Lunanesi volunteers, who thanks to their commitment keep alive the traditions and flavors of a time that characterize the days of celebration.
In particular, every evening the women of Lunano meet in the cellars and in the kitchens made available, to create and prepare sweets based on chestnuts that have been the emblem of the festival for 45 years.
In other rooms, chestnuts are selected by expert eyes.
Here we find volunteers who with passion and dedication, teach newcomers how to "castrate" chestnuts to make them the famous “roast chestnuts". Each chestnut is chosen according to color, shape and fragrance, then one part is used for cooking and another part is sold directly.
In every evening the atmosphere that is created is exciting, because we remember the times gone by, the first preparations, the evenings spent peeling all those steaming chestnuts, the loved ones who are gone and the old sayings.
In particular, considering the strong presence of non-EU citizens in the municipal area (about 20%), the preparatory phases of the festival are an important opportunity for cultural integration, which allows on the one hand to bring local traditions to the new arrivals; to establish important relations between the "old" and future Lunanesi.
We believe that every year, the first impression ofWe b  those who will arrive at the party is to dive into the past, where the heat, the aromas and the sensations, will accompany them throughout the duration of the event.