Fiemme Valley, there is a scent of markets and nativity scenes

Magnificent Marketplace - Pg visitfiemme.it, Ph. Federico Modica

Romantic little wooden houses have been teasing the palate in Fiemme Valley towns wrapped in Christmas lights since early December. While a "Passport to Taste" reveals the authentic and refined flavors of refuges, restaurants and hotels.

Until Jan. 6, 2024, roasted chestnuts are crackling in the Magnificent Market of Cavalese, in the garden of the palace of the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme. Here Christmas smells of spices, herbs, bacon and cheeses, amid little wooden houses, folk dances, choirs, lanterns and a grove of small fir trees.

The offerings of artisans, artists and taste specialists also warm the atmosphere in the Village under the Tree in Predazzo, where the Christmas market invites people to sip mulled wine and hot chocolate. Buy a nativity figure from local sculptors and receive a small Christmas souvenir as a gift.

Until January 7, Tesero hosts the "Market Under the Stars" full of local knowledge and flavors, alongside the traditional life-size nativity scene. Strolling among the little houses you will discover fine wooden objects, honey sweets, natural products and medicinal herbs, felt crafts and artistic creations. Also in Tesero, until January 15, some 100 traditional nativity scenes are on display in the courtyards, stables and alleys. From crib to crib, one discovers the art of wood stacking and the customs of this country.

Predazzo Street Markets - Pg visitfiemme.it, Ph. Gaia Panozzo

To delve into a life-size nativity scene, one reaches Ville di Fiemme (hamlet of Varena) where a small Bethlehem stands. The large and original Varena nativity scene until Jan. 14 takes on a special charm at sunset, when 200 points of light illuminate the clearing where it is placed. The baby Jesus' hut is surrounded by a small village that, from cottage to cottage, evokes ancient crafts such as shearing sheep, spinning wool, fetching wood, and threshing grain.

In Ziano di Fiemme, until March 5, the nativity scenes are in the woods, right at the foot of the fir trees. In the locality of Zanolin thirty small nativity scenes can be discovered by walking through the woods. They are all created by the inhabitants of this small village to invite you to breathe in the Christmas atmosphere in contact with nature.

In Val di Fiemme, nature also expresses its taste in restaurants, snow-surrounded huts, agritourisms and hotels. To find out what the zero-kilometer synergy between hoteliers, restaurateurs and producers of the Fiemme and Cembra Tradition and Taste project expresses at the table, just browse through the Passport to Taste that accompanies you from place to place and can be stamped from menu to menu.

Ancient traditions, passed down from generation to generation, express the authentic flavors of the Fiemme Valley. The local gastronomic proposal is seductive thanks to its raw materials: milk, butter, yogurt, malga cheeses, such as Puzzone di Moena or Formae Val di Fiemme, goat cheeses, Monograno Felicetti pasta with selected grains, speck, lucaniche, herbal teas, small fruits, vegetables, ancient legumes, jams, Fiemme craft beer, sparkling wines, grappa and mountain wines from the nearby Cembra Valley.

The Passport to Taste, a booklet distributed by the ApT Fiemme Cembra offices, lists the flavor places that guarantee a direct relationship between producer and consumer, thanks to realities that carry on ancient traditions, often innovating them, to offer authentic flavors that tell stories of love for the mountains.

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