ST. MARTIN'S FAIR
November 11
The appointment with tradition
An appointment that is lost in the historical memory of Grottammare and in addition to being one of the most anticipated initiatives on the annual calendar is also a reference point for the schedules of neighboring cities.
It has thousands of visitors each year and an ever-increasing number of operators who book a space, for sale or simple display. They are the undisputed authors of this resilient interweaving of present and past.
BRIEF LOGISTICAL BACKGROUND
Usually exhibitors are distributed in the Fair area as follows:
Food products (fruits, cheeses, baked goods, etc.): central area, near the Fruit and Vegetable Market;
Housewares and hardware: Via Matteotti (adjacent to ss.16) and part of Via Capriotti;
Food and Beverage Administration (porchetta, fried fish, Canzanese turkey, etc.): Crucioli Avenue and Laureati Street (by the Pineta icciotti);
Various goods: the entire fair area from Via Verdi to Via Battisti;
Animals and Flowers: area in front of Garibaldi Avenue Elementary School;
Direct producers: area adjacent to the Fruit and Vegetable Market, part of Fazzini Square, Largo Raffaello Sanzio and various stands scattered throughout the area;
Fireplace displays and various items: Garibaldi Avenue and Marconi Street on the south side.
HISTORICAL NOTES.
This fair, which is still held on November 11, the day dedicated to St. Martin, was originally a folk fair, linked to the economy of the second half of the 18th century and based mainly on the exchange of raw materials and agricultural products for semi-finished artifacts or finished products
Its special feature was that it was a "free" fair, in which everyone could participate, with no special checks on the origin of goods.
Today, the fair has lost its purely rural character and is primarily a time of celebration attended by a considerable number of exhibitors and thousands of visitors, many of whom also come from neighboring countries.
Everything can be found at the stalls, including tempting local food specialties, countless kinds of sweets, but on St. Martin's Day we mostly celebrate the arrival of new wine, which can be enjoyed with the inevitable roasted chestnuts.
A curious event related to the feast of St. Martin is the so-called "cuckold race," the origin of which is not precisely known: some believe that it derives from the Longobard custom of celebrating the saint with large military parades in which helmets adorned with conspicuous horns were worn; others claim that it stems from the fact that peasants participating in the fair "cuckolded" their masters, even bringing the products that were intended for them.
However, the tradition has remained and, to avoid any misunderstanding, during the St. Martin's Day banquet the most anticipated dish is a celery salad ("lu sonnere alla cazzimberie") which, being seasoned with a lot of pepper, is considered an aphrodisiac and therefore offered, in particular, to men, so that their wives do not get the wanderlust to cheat on them.
Source: www.comune.grottammare.ap.it
