An Englishman at "La Notte della Taranta"

It is less than one month since we went to Melpignano, south of Lecce.

Melpignano is located in an area of the Lecce province called Grecia Salentina.

People there speak Griko, a variant of Greek.

We went there the 23^rd of August to attend the latest night of the itinerant festival La Notte della Taranta.

La Notte della Taranta is one of greatest folk festival in Europe.

The music played there is pizzica, which has Greek influence.

Aaron is from Bristol, in the UK.

He came to Brindisi, south of Apulia, in July 2013 to work.

He loves music, he likes very much music festival.

Last year I promised him: “I will take you to Melpignano at La Notte della Taranta, an amazing folk festival.”.

Mervyn, a funny friend of ours from London joined us.

The 23^rd of August 2013 we were in Melpignano.

I still remember their faces when they saw the huge crowd under the stage, filling the entire square.

Almost 30.000 people dancing and singing.

I consider it a bath of energy, pure energy.

Mervyn was supposed to come this year as well. Unfortunately, he could not make it.

 So Aaron and I went there again this year, to celebrate what seems to me a therapeutic rite.

Aaron, I, Lucia and her friends from Milan have been this year at La Notte della Taranta.

I asked Aaron:“Why do you like this music festival”. He replied: “because it is so trivial”.

Aaron has been dancing the entire night. He has even bought a tamburello.

Then, at the end of the night he comes to me and says: “do you know why I really like this festival?

Because it makes me think that I have to let it go” I have never understood very well what he meant.

But I guess he meant something personal, something which belongs to his own story.

Aaron will go back to UK soon.

His life experience in Apulia has almost come to an end.

I wish you all the best, dude.

I'm sure that I will see you next year in August, of course at Notte della Taranta.

Lecce, capital of Apulian Baroque

Lecce is one of the Apulian cities which tourists seem to be fond of.

Yesterday, I went to Lecce at Notte della Taranta, a folk music itinerant festival.

However, on the 23^rd of August, the latest, huge concert of Notte della Taranta festival will be held in Melpignano, close to Lecce.

Notte della Taranta is one of the most popular folk music concerts in Europe.

Every year, the concert in Melpignano attracts almost 50.000 people.

It is a joyful party, where people free their spirit by dancing the Pizzica, a faster version of tarantella.

So, let’s come back to Lecce.

Lecce is a magnificent city, a candidate to be European capital of culture 2019.

It is located in Salento, area which encompasses the province of Lecce, Brindisi and partially Taranto.

The Baroque in Lecce is joyful.

Baroque, influenced by the Spanish Plateresque style, took place between the 16^th and 17^th century, after the battle of Lepanto.

The battle of Lepanto sanctions the end of the Ottoman threat to Europe.

The local upper class, in order to show its status, financed the constructions of new buildings and churches. 

Additionally, buildings already existing, were renewed with Baroque motifs.

The workforce was directed by two great local architects: Giuseppe Zimbalo and Giuseppe Cino.

One additional peculiarity of the local Baroque is due to pietra leccese, the local stone.

The pietra leccese  is easy to work with.

An additional peculiarity is its warm color.

The film industry has played a key role to the success of Salento, of which Lecce is the main city.  

Edoardo Winspeare is the filmmaker of movies set in Salento like pizzicata, Sangue vivo, il miracolo and Galantuomini.

These movies portray a society with a strong connection between the past and the present.

The soundtruck of his movies is obviously the pizzica.

Pizzica, which will be celebrated at Notte della Taranta in Melpignano on the 23^rd of August.

Let’s meet up there, then.

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