Festa del Grillo

Festa del Grillo

Between April 30 and June 3; 40 days after Easter

In most European countries, Ascension Day is a holiday when families go to the country to have picnics or just to spend the day outdoors. On Ascension Day in Florence, Italy, crowds gather in the Cascine—a public park along the banks of the Arno River—to celebrate the Festa del Grillo, or Cricket Festival, the chirping cricket being a traditional symbol of spring. Food stalls are set up in the park, and there are balloons and other souvenirs for sale.
Although people used to catch their own crickets, today they can buy them in brightly painted wood, wicker, or wire cages, where they are kept with a large lettuce leaf to sustain them. The children carry their crickets through the park and later hang the cages outside their windows. If the grillo sings to them, it means they'll have good luck.

SOURCES:
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 105
BkHolWrld-1986, May 21
FestSaintDays-1915, p. 116
FestWestEur-1958, p. 97