Cisano Birds Festival Resumes with Competitions, Markets, and Music

After a tasting last Saturday and Sunday with the clay pigeon shooting competition, the “Sagra dei osei” in Cisano di Bardolino will resume today. At 6 p.m., the opening of the food stalls is scheduled; at 9 p.m., music with Titti Bianchi’s Orchestra (at the port, however, there will be a piano bar). The following evening will feature Chicco De Matteo. Saturday is the peak of the event. At 6:30 a.m., in the Villa Marzan park, there will be a singing contest among the best birds (mistle thrush, blackbird, chaffinch, goldfinch). On Via Fontane, the competitive display will be between lark and redwing. At 9 a.m., the finch, which usually wakes up later than the others, will take the stage. The various markets—hunting equipment, agricultural-hunting tools, farmed game, poultry, and songbirds—will open at 7 a.m. Hunter’s firearms will also be on display. Then, exchanges involving indigenous and exotic birds will begin. At 10 a.m., there will be a contest of bird-calling (whistlers imitating bird sounds), using a quail whistle and without, held in the theatre tent. At noon, prizes for the various competitions will be awarded. In the evening, there will be bonsai displays, the “Funky Bum Ballet” group, painters, dancing with the Gianruggero Orchestra, and the piano bar. On Sunday, at 9 a.m., the bird trade will restart. At 6 p.m., the “Garda danze” group will perform (specializing in Standard and Latin American dances), followed by Ruggero Scandiuzzi’s folk dancing at 9 p.m. On Monday, the event will feature “I magnifici,” and at 11:45 p.m., the grand finale with a fireworks display over the lake. The hunting fairs originated in the 12th century in Northern Italy (more affected by bird migration), supporting the then-popular folk hunting practice of bird-calling. Today, around one hundred such fairs are held annually in Italy, despite changes over time and new legislative restrictions. The allure of competitions between the best spring singers has remained unchanged from the past: a dawn singing exhibition. Since time immemorial, the Cisano Festival has been held on September 8th, linked to a religious celebration and immediately before the hunting season. Early in the 20th century, it was so well known that painter Beltrame, of “La Domenica del Corriere,” depicted a painting in 1903 showing the Romanesque Cisano church and the lively bargaining among bird cages and fluttering owls. In the Verona agricultural economy, visiting the festival was an essential event for hunters, who would stock up on valuable bird calls for the upcoming hunting season, and for farmers, who could buy agricultural and winemaking tools or poultry at the market. After enjoying a dish of tripe or polenta with osei, accompanied by plenty of Bardolino wine, there was fierce rivalry among trattorias to serve the most delicious dish. In recent twenty years, animal rights groups also appeared in Cisano, staging lively protests. After the adoption of Regional Law No. 15 of 1997, life has gradually returned to normal. Today, visitors can see and hear dozens of native and exotic bird species live. Additionally, the best national bird-callers compete. Restaurants and the kiosk run by the organizing committee offer visitors the widest selection of traditional dishes.