San Zeno Chestnut Festival Highlights: Awards, Traditions, and Exchanges
28th edition of the chestnut festival in San Zeno di Montagna. The event will commence tomorrow with the «Marron d’oro» contest, a competition exclusively for members of the Associazione castanicoltori del monte Baldo. “It’s an incentive to encourage local producers to continually improve the quality of their products,” explains Giacomo Peretti, president of the association. “The fruits presented are judged based on a quality matrix developed in previous years by the association itself, which specifies particular parameters such as skin color, size, fruit firmness, as well as flavor, aroma, or oiliness.”
Awards and festival organization
The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday at 9 PM in the heated pavilion installed in the town square, a new feature introduced in this edition. The chestnut festival has been organized by the Municipality and the San Zeno Chestnut Growers Association, with support from the Chamber of Commerce, and under the patronage of the Verona Provincial Administration, the Tourist Promotion Agency, the Baldo Mountain Community, and the Sarca, Mincio, and Adige mountain catchment areas.
“In the past, the association worked to obtain certification for the San Zeno marron,” continues Peretti. “The application for DOP recognition is currently under review by the ministry. Now we aim to promote the commercialization not only of the product itself, i.e., the chestnut, but also of its derivatives like jam, flour, marron glacé, and similar products. From now on, local hoteliers will serve small packages of San Zeno chestnut-based marronata for breakfast.”
Cultural exchanges and festival program
However, improving quality and enhancing the product also involves exchanging knowledge with different communities. For this reason, in the 2000 edition of the San Zeno chestnut festival, a delegation of chestnut growers from Soriano nel Cimino, Viterbo, was invited. “It’s a way to share experiences and to introduce our products outside the Verona area.”
The festival program includes Saturday, November 4th, with the inauguration at 11:30 AM of an exhibition of drawings and compositions created by elementary and middle school students of San Zeno di Montagna. At 2 PM, inside the heated pavilion, a market exhibition of chestnuts showcasing the best varieties will be held.
At 2:30 PM, the fifth «Scarpinà fra le castagne» begins — a non-competitive trail run qualifying for the U.M.V. 2000 contest. The day will conclude at 9 PM with the awards ceremony for the Marron d’oro contest and a performance by the Garda Danze group from Castelnuovo.
On Sunday, from 9 AM onward, there will be another chestnut market; at 10 AM, a concert by the San Zeno di Montagna bell ringer group; at 2:30 PM, a parade and performance by the Group of Flag Throwers of Soriano nel Cimino (Viterbo), followed at 5 PM by live music and folk dancing.
Antonella Traina