In 2000 the Rimini Dixieland Jazz Band organized a traditional jazz-concert at the end of the summer-season: this event is considered the establishment of the International Traditional and Swing Jazz Festival, the event that takes  place every year in Rimini.

Many of the finest bands and musicians have taken part at this festival.
The big stage, placed in the square dedicated at Federico Fellini, will house the ninth edition of the Rimini Jazz International Festival.

Rimini Jazz 2009 will take place from the 23rd to the 27th of June, with big names of the traditional Jazz and Swing as actors coming from Italy, USA and the Netherlands.
Big sized orchestras, small Jazz combos, All-Star line-ups and Marching Band in the true tradition of New Orleans, ready to start the coming summer season events of the Romagna shore.

This is an Italian style chicken recipe with Parmesan cheese that I found on Southern Food.

Ingredients:

* 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (halves)
* 3 large eggs, beaten
* 1 cup Parmesan cheese
* 1 cup fine dry Italian bread crumbs
* 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
* 1/4 cup butter

Preparation:

Wash chicken and pat dry. Dip chicken into eggs. Combine cheese and bread crumbs. Coat chicken thoroughly with crumb mixture. Place on greased baking sheet. Drizzle with salad dressing and place pats of butter on each piece of chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

The Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) is an open-road endurance race that has been taking place in Italy since 1927.
Since 1977 the name was revived as the Mille Miglia Storica, a parade for pre-1957 cars that takes several days.

Every May, Brescia becomes the meeting place for the rich, famous and passionate as they prepare to do battle over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of Italian roads.

This edition of the race will start on May 14th in Brescia, will pass by Florence, Siena, Rome, Ferrara, San Marino and many other cities, coming back in Brescia in few days.

The history of the Mille Miglia is traced in all its glory at the Mille Miglia Museum in Brescia. This collection is a must for all amateurs of the automobile and its history and includes a fine collection of books and photographic works.

The Mille Miglia has the reputation of being the “the most beautiful road race in the world”, don’t miss it!

Info taken from wikipedia.

The “Museums Open Night” is an European initiative that will take place on 16 May.
Rome is the city with the highest number of museums partaking in this initiative. The Italian capital offers a wide range of events, including musical entertainment, and will open museums free of charge from sunset until two o’clock in the morning.

As regards other events, at Milan the Sforza Castle will offer guided visits to its secret passageand an exhibition of painting techniques, while Florence’s Oblate Gallery hosts “The poetry night”, a poetry reading given by both notable and emerging actors.

The Cinque Terre (the Five Lands) is a portion of coast in Liguria, on the Italian Riviera, near to Versilia area. The Five Lands are five wonderful villages: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

Paths, trains and boats connect the villages and cars can’t easily reach Cinque Terre: this feature and the lack of visible modern development make it a very popular and magic destination.
Over centuries have been built terraces on the cliffs overlooking the sea, giving unforgettable views.

A walking trail connects the five villages, offering an amazing view of the bay.
If you’re travelling in couple you can not miss the Via Dell’Amore (the Lovers Walk), the road from Riomaggiore to Manarola.

Each year, on Labour Day there is a huge free concert in San Giovanni in Laterano square in Rome.
More than 700 artists line up the 1st of May for a turn on that stage.
This year Vasco Rossi, Giorgia, Caparezza, Nomadi, Bandabardò, Edoardo Bennato and a lot of other Italian artists will perform for free on that stage

In 2007 there were approximately 700.000 people attending the event.
The First of May concert (Concerto del Primomaggio) began in 1989 and quickly became a popular event, heavily covered by TV and the press. To get a good view of the stage you have to arrive early in San Giovanni Square.

Montesiepi’s Round was built around 1182 on the hill where the knight Galgano placed his sword in the stone, giving over with violence. This event brings us back to the Arthurian Saga, and maybe there are connections with that legend.

But who was San Galgano?
Sir Galgano Guidotti was an untamed knight, vicious an full of lust. One day, Archangel Michael appeared to him, showing the way to salvation and the exact place where to go.
The day after Galgano announced that he was going to become a hermit and took up residence in a cave.

After the Saint’s death, his scalp continued to grow for a long time, and his miraculous head was adored. The crowds of pilgrims were so numerous that the Cistercians were authorized to build another monastery named after Saint Galgano a short distance away.

They built one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings of Italy: the St. Galgano’s Cistercian Abbey.

The San Galgano’s sword in the stone is still safeguarded in Montesiepi’s Round, the Hermitage near the San Galgano’s Cistercian Abbey, but the Abbey also has a big particularity: it hasn’t got the roof.
The walls of the abbey are still standing, it is suggestive and beautiful: a field of green with the walls reaching up to the sky…

San Galgano is also the name of the place, about 30 km southwest of Siena.

If you want to prepare true Sicilian Cannoli, just follow this recipe! (found on epicrious)

Ingredients

For cannoli shells

* 1 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 lb cold lard
* 2 tablespoons sweet Marsala wine
* 1 large egg, separated
* About 3 cups vegetable oil

For filling

* 1 lb fresh ricotta (2 cups)
* 2 oz soft mild goat cheese
* 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
* 1 tablespoon minced candied orange peel
* 1/2 teaspoon orange-flower water (also called orange-blossom water)
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/3 cup shelled unsalted pistachios (not dyed red), chopped
* 2 oz bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped (1/2 cup)

* Special equipment: a pasta maker; a 4- to 4 1/4-inch round cookie cutter; a deep-fat thermometer; 6 (roughly 5 5/8- by 5/8-inch) metal cannoli tubes; 2 heavy-duty oven mitts; a pastry bag fitted with a 3/4-inch plain tip
* Garnish: confectioners sugar

Preparation

Make dough for shells:
Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Add 2 tablespoons lard and blend in with your fingertips until combined. Add wine and yolk and stir until a dough forms.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, 5 to 7 minutes. Form dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, then let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

Make filling while dough stands:
Beat together ricotta, goat cheese, confectioners sugar, orange peel, orange-flower water, and cinnamon in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed 1 minute (do not overbeat). Fold in nuts and chocolate until combined and chill.

Make shells:
Set smooth rollers of pasta maker at widest setting. Unwrap dough and cut in half, then lightly flour 1 piece (keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap). Flatten floured dough into an oval and feed through rollers. Turn dial down 2 notches and feed dough through rollers again. Continue to feed dough through rollers, making space between rollers narrower by 2 notches each time, until narrowest setting is used.

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap. Transfer rolled dough to a lightly floured surface and cut out 4 or 5 rounds with floured cutter. Transfer rounds to baking sheet and keep covered with more plastic wrap. Roll out remaining dough and cut rounds in same manner. Gather scraps and let stand 10 minutes. Roll out scraps and cut in same manner.

Heat remaining lard with 1 1/4 inches oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until it registers 350°F on thermometer.

Meanwhile, lightly oil cannoli tubes. Lightly beat egg white, then brush bottom edge of 1 dough round with egg white. Wrap dough around a tube, overlapping ends (egg-white edge should go on top), then press edges together to seal. Make 5 more shells in same manner (keep remaining rounds covered with plastic).

Fry dough on tubes 1 at a time, turning with metal tongs, until 1 shade darker, about 45 seconds. Wearing oven mitts, clamp end of hot tubes, 1 at a time, with tongs and, holding tube vertically, allow shell to slide off tube onto paper towels, gently shaking tube and wiggling shell as needed to loosen. (If you allow shell to cool it will stick to tube and shatter when you try to remove it.) Transfer shells to paper towels to drain and cool tubes before reusing. Wrap remaining dough around tubes and fry in same manner.

Spoon filling into pastry bag and pipe some into 1 end of a cannoli shell, filling shell halfway, then pipe into other end. Repeat with remaining shells.

Mount Pellegrino is located in Sicily and faces east on the bay of Palermo.

Monte Pellegrino is the Italian name, it is 1,970 ft high and offers spectacular views of Palermo and surroundings.

Goethe talked about Mount Pellegrino in his book Travels in Italy, describing it as “the most beautiful promontory in the world”.

In this promontory there are two main places of interest: the Grotta dell’Addaura (Addaura caves) and Saint Rosalia Sanctuary.

Addaura Caves are simply unique: there were found the earliest traces of humans. A lot of petroglyphs testify the presence of humans since 7000 BC.

Saint Rosalia Sanctuary is worth to be visited too: it is built in the cave where her remains were discovered in 1624. In fact Saint Rosalia, best known as La Santuzza, is the patron Saint of Palermo and lived as a hermit in that cave on Mount Pellegrino.

Margherita Pizza is a simple, delicious, classic Italian pizza.
This recipe for gluten free Margherita Pizza is made with crisp gluten free pizza crust, good quality mozzarella cheese, fresh sliced Roma tomatoes, pesto sauce and fresh basil bursting with flavor and fragrant aroma. It’s a real treat!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

* 2 12-inch parbaked gluten free pizza crusts (recipe below)
* 1 cup good quality gluten free pizza sauce (see tips)
* 2 thinly sliced medium Roma tomatoes, remove seeds and blot slices with a paper towel
* 2 tablespoons pesto sauce
* 1/4 cup fresh basil, cut in thin strips
* 8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
* 2 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
* 1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450°

1. Divide ingredients evenly between the two pizza crusts.
2. Ladle sauce over crusts, add pesto and spread evenly over crusts with a spoon.
3. Place sliced tomatoes and strips of fresh basil over sauces.
4. Add sliced cheese, parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes.
5. Bake on a cookie cooling rack or a preheated pizza stone for 7-10 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and golden.

Source: Gluten free cooking