A fair a thousand years old and cows that push each other

The Aosta Valley calendar follows the seasons of the high pasture: up in June, down in September, and around those two movements sit nearly all the festivals. The exception is the January fair, which is the most important and falls in the middle of winter.

The Sant'Orso fair

On 30 and 31 January, in Aosta, the Sant'Orso fair is held: more than a thousand craftsmen display through the streets of the centre objects of wood, soapstone, wrought iron and cloth, all handmade and nearly all useful. Tradition dates it to the year 1000, and the night between the two days the town stays awake, with the stalls open and the mulled wine.

The bataille des reines

From March to October the batailles des reines are held, in which Valdostana cows face each other: they push head to head until one gives way, without harm, and it is the same gesture by which on the high pasture they settle who leads the herd. The heats move round the villages and the final is run in Aosta in mid October.

The carnival and the autumn

In the Great St Bernard valley the Coumba Freida carnival has masked figures called landzette, with embroidered uniforms that recall the soldiers Napoleon led through here in 1800. In September comes the desarpa of Arnad, the descent of the herds from the high pasture wearing crowns of flowers; in October the Marche au Fort at Bard gathers the valley's producers inside the fortress.

The summer

In summer every village has its food fair and every valley its patronal feast, often with a band and a communal lunch. There are also the contests of fiolet and rebatta, two traditional games with a bat and a ball played only here. The campsites keep the calendars of what is happening nearby.