October in Merano between grapes and apples
The grape festival
Highly anticipated by the people of Merano and international guests of the city, this traditional celebration of thanksgiving at the end of the grape harvest (dates back to 1886) returns on the weekend of 15 and 16 October, this year again in its full version with over 40 bands music, allegorical floats, horse-drawn carriages and processions in typical Tyrolean costumes.
Well in advance, Merano takes on the theme also thanks to the contribution of the municipal gardening: in the urban flowerbeds, installations of huge bunches of grapes and good-luck glasses triumph.
Characters dressed in traditional Tyrolean clothing wedged between the crowd and the parade, with monumental feather headdresses, animal tooth necklaces, fox tails and other extravagant accessories.
They are the saltari, who until 1960 wandered among the vineyards at the time of the ripening of the grapes, a sort of guardians of the crops who, with their appearance, kept away thieves, men or animals! https://www.merano-suedtirol.it/it/merano/informazioni-servizi/eventi/festa-dell-uva-merano.html
Against light pollution and energy waste
Ecology, environmental sustainability, energy saving have been applied daily in Merano on many fronts and for many years. Now it is the turn of decorative night lighting, which is about to be limited, leaving architectural works such as the Puccini municipal theater, the princely castle, some monuments in the dark in the middle of the night, from 11 pm to 6 am.
With this initiative Merano seems to want to teach that a city must have light inside, it must emanate from the urban, social and cultural fabric. And that resource management has become a priority issue for the planet.
Small calendar of Merano Vitae in October
Feel good, love yourself, find your time and harmony with yourself, body, mind and spirit. In the name of this way of understanding a holiday in Merano, if only a weekend of escape from worries, even in October you can follow the proposals of Merano Vitae. Every Saturday of the month from 7.30 to 9.00 Early Bird, early bird walk with meeting point at the statue of Sissi in the Elisabetta park. Free and accessible without reservation.
Wednesday 19 October from 13.00 to 14.00 “Kissed by the sun”. Meeting in Piazza Terme for an hour of yoga exercises in the sun to recharge your body and mind. Free and accessible without reservation. Saturday 22 October “Tempo per me – Ikebana in autumn” lesson by Patrizia Ferrari, with materials and breakfast included. For a fee, reservations required. The complete program of Merano Vitae can be found here.
MERANO GREEN IN PROGRESS
Early autumn walks
In October Merano is an ideal destination for those who love walking: it is neither too cold nor too hot and the colors of nature are spectacular. The paths that climb towards the mountains that are the crown of the city are the joy of hikers in search of excitement and grandiose views. Suggestions for excursions around Merano.
Other walks wind their way lightly around the town, among trees, flower beds, suggestive views and echoes of the past. Suitable for everyone, even for mothers with babies in a wheelchair, is the Sissi path, structured in 11 stages that testify as many moments of the stays in Merano of the Austrian imperial family and of the characters who contributed to making Merano emerge as a city of care and international tourism. It starts from the Passeggiata Lungo Passirio and, between seventeenth-century bridges, statues of Sissi, castles, medieval residences, centuries-old trees, you reach in 3.2 km in sight of Trauttmansdorff Castle and its famous gardens that Sissi was not lucky enough to attend: around the castle, then, there were vineyards. The map of the route and the description of the stages can be found here: Proposals for walks and trails in Merano.
Discovering autumn fruits
While the orchards and vineyards of the Merano landscape light up with colors thanks to the lowering of October night temperatures, the Gardens of Trauttmansdorff Castle celebrate the traditional South Tyrolean, Mediterranean and exotic fruits that are grown in Trauttmansdorff Castle. And every Saturday of this month, at 10.45 o’clock, a tour starts in the garden areas where apples, figs, pomegranates, pears and olives ripen. As the guided tour every Saturday is for only 15 people, online booking is required. The tour lasts 90 minutes and, at a cost of 8 euros per person, also includes some delicious fruit tastings, even Indian bananas!
MERANO HAS NUMBERS
300 kilos of grapes and 500 kilos of apples
A gigantic allegorical float on the theme of apples, curated by the town of Marling, participates in the Merano Grape Festival. Built in 1949, it is over 5 meters long, 2.20 meters wide and weighs 2 tons, not counting the 500 kilos of apples needed for the set-up and for the imposing crown of apples that dominates it. Lagundo, another charming town close to Merano, has been showing the Kundschafter, a giant grape cart, 4.5 meters high and decorated with 300 kilos of grapes, at the Grape Festival since 1951!
