Sea festivals, and a frying pan the size of a square
At Camogli they fry fish in a four-metre pan, and that is only the first on the list.
Ligurian festivals almost all have to do with the sea, with the saints of fishermen and with fire: fireworks over the water, bonfires on the beach, processions of boats.
The Camogli fish festival
On the second Sunday in May, at Camogli, fish is fried in a steel pan four metres across and handed out free to anyone who queues. The evening before, bonfires are lit in the two quarters of the town and fireworks go up over the harbour. Tens of thousands come: arrive by train.
Processions and fires
In Genoa, on 24 June, the procession of San Giovanni carries the crucifixes of the confraternities, which weigh up to two hundred kilos. At Laigueglia, in July, a landing of Saracen pirates is re-enacted. On 2 August Lavagna makes the Fieschi cake, ten metres tall, and divides it among those who find the stranger holding the same password.
The festival, and the rest
Sanremo hosts the song festival in February, which is not camping season but fills the city. In summer the coastal towns hold fairs almost every evening, often of fish, at old-fashioned prices. Inland there are chestnut festivals in autumn.
The regattas
The Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics returns to Genoa every four years, rotating with Venice, Pisa and Amalfi. The Tigullio has its own rowing palio between the coastal towns, run in summer and followed locally with some seriousness.