Italy hats from Montappone

Italy hats are celebrated every year in the lovely village of Montappone with a crafts festival.

A young farmer fell in love with the girl and asked the king to marry her but he was poor and didn’t have anything to offer to fashion a crown worth of a king’s daughter.

The wise king told the boy to look closely at the riches he had instead of thinking about the wealth he was missing.

The boy took his way home thinking about the king’s words.

He was walking along a field and he picked up three ears of wheat and mindlessly let the seeds drop to the ground, immediately three birds picked them up and flew away interweaving their flights in the sky.

The boy understood then the king’s words and worked all night to weave a crown made of straw and embellished with a border to protect the face of his lover from the sun and rain.

The king appreciated the creativity and initiative of the young farmer and gave his consent to the marriage.

The story goes that from that day on all the inhabitants of Montappone started weaving straw hats hoping for the same good luck of the farmer boy.

I don’t know how much truth is in this legend but certainly the people of Montappone are working hard at making their fortune with Italy hats.

Every year is held in this village a craft festival that celebrates the hats made in Italy. The fair includes an exhibition of historic hats from the biggest hat museum in Europe, storytellers, folk singers, fancy dining and, to conclude this two days event, an amazing music and firework show.

The show takes place in the village square and we found ourselves literally in the middle of it, with fireworks over our heads and music all around us.

It was stunning and the Montappone people were very proud of it.

They were also happy to show us all the steps of hat making and patient enough to teach us to weave straw and let us take pictures.

The warmth of the people of Montappone and the quality of the exhibitions and shows make of this festival and event you shouldn’t miss.

Click here for more info about the festival of Italy hats of Montappone

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