Don’t let the bad weather bring you down! With a long and dry Summer,  a mostly sunny and mild Autumn, a very short Winter, and Spring that’s just around the corner, there is never a bad time to enjoy a cultural tour in Sicily.

Under Norman rule, Palermo enjoyed a new spirit of syncretism. Arabs, Latins, Jews, Greeks and Norman descendants lived together peacefully. Today, Palermo remains a multi-ethnic city, known for its tolerance. Take a tour in Palermo to take the pulse of this cosmopolitan city and discover the splendours of Palermo’s Norman architecture.

Sicily is an open-air museum with over 120 accessible archaeological sites. Visit the most remarkable ones on an expert-led archaeological tour in Sicily.

In Sicily, Easter celebrations have resisted time and modernity.  Sicilians celebrate this Catholic feast with joy and devotion. In Palermo, the procession of San Matteo is worth seeing on Holy Friday. Also for the celebrations.

If Spring is the perfect time to discover the Palermo’s beautifully decorated baroque churches,  it is also undoubtedly the best time to enjoy the Cassata, Sicily’s famous cake, made of sweetened ricotta cheese, marzipan and candied fruit. This is also the season for fresh peas, fava beans and artichokes. You can discover these delicacies visiting Palermo’s markets

Passage to Sicily is happy to announce its new collaboration with Maria Laura Crescimanno, a journalist and travel consultant, whose interests cover a wide range of topics about Sicily,
including nature reserves, gastronomy and culture. Her special focus is on small islands such as the Egadi and the Eolian.

Her latest work, Suggestioni di Sicilia, has also been published in English under the name Charming Sicily.

While recounting the land of Sicily, Maria Laura Crescimanno suggests a great variety of ways to discover Sicily. They include a selection of towns, sites and museums of great interest, secret beaches, well thought out thematic itineraries to be enjoyed on foot or by car, cultural events of significance, charming hotels, resorts and B&Bs and, importantly, all about a truly fascinating Sicilian gastronomy.

Charming Sicily is available in Italy’s main bookstores as well as at key airports and train stations.

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Forthcoming events

In Sicily traditions are the backbone of society. Plan your visit during theatrical and music festivals, religious feasts and gastronomy fairs. Experience how Sicilians live their culture and traditions.

March – Palermo is hosting a rare exhibition… of only women painters.  “One hundred years of feminist art in Sicily (1850-1950)”.  Some 170 paintings from 33 artists offer interesting insights into the last century, seen through the eyes of women painters.

April – In Sicily, each town  celebrates the Holy Week of Easter in its own particular way.

I Misteri di Trapani (the Mysteries of Trapani) is perhaps Sicily’s most famous procession. It lasts 24 hours and is sponsored by the city’s guilds.  Some 20 imposing wooden sculptures from the 17^th and 18^th century, representing scenes of the Passion, Christ’s carrying the cross, Christ’s flagellation, crucifixion, etc., are paraded throughout the streets of Trapani, following the tune of a quite mournful and hypnotizing music.  Of Spanish origin, this celebration has been in existence since at least 1612. This year, the event is held on 2 and 3 April.

The city of Caltanissetta hosts a week-long Easter celebrations that start on Palm Sunday with a procession featuring Jesus entering Jerusalem. The celebrations end on Easter Sunday.

In Palermo, do not miss Holy Friday’s procession of San Matteo featuring Our Lady of Sorrow.  A trip to San Biagio Platani to admire the Easter Arches is certainly worthwhile too! The arches are on display from 8 April to 6 May.

In Prizzi, get involved in the ‘Dance of the Devils’. The dance takes place on Easter Sunday and represents the struggle between good and evil. Dancing devils try to constrain passers-by to buy them drinks, a well appreciated metaphor for the devil’s attempt to rob human souls.

May – The Greek Theater Syracuse
From 9 May to 20 June, the Italian National Drama Institute presents two masterpieces of ancient Greek literature, the “Ajax” of Sophocles and the “Phaedra” of Euripides. For more information, go to http://www.indafondazione.org/en/

Windsurf World Festival on the Beach
In May, the crystal clear waters of Mondello (Palermo) are usually warm enough to enjoy.  From 15 to 23 May, Mondello hosts the famous Windsurf World Festival on the Beach. This much awaited festival includes a great many sporting events among which we find windsurfing, sailing, swimming and beach volleyball. If you are an athlete and/or enjoy beach culture, don’t miss this event!

June – The Targa Florio is back! One of the world’s most ancient rally races  is on again. Watch these exceptional sports cars (which include many historic cars) race around the winding roads of the Madonie mountains. The race departs on 2 June from the Politema square in Palermo.

June is also rich in cultural festivals: Among the events to look forward to are one of Italy’s main film events, the Taormina Film Fest, which is on from 11 to 19 June ; the annual Seacily Jazz Festival (dates have yet to be confirmed) ; and “Il Mito”, the Myth Festival at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, which takes place from June to September.