The Festival of Almond Blossom in Agrigento

The Festival of Almond Blossom is a popular tradition that takes place every year in Agrigento to celebrate the advance of the spring with the flowering of the almond tree, which brings together folk groups from all over the world.

The Story of the Almond Blossom Festival?

The festival was born in 1934 in Naro, a town in the province of Agrigento, with the intent to advertise local products of Sicily, in the frame of the advance spring and almond flowers. In 1937 the festival moved permanently to Agrigento and took the official name of the Almond Blossom Festival. The event begins to be enriched by the participation of local and foreign folk groups.

In 1941 the Festival was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War, until 1948 it was reborn in a series of editions richer. In 1966 it was saddened by the tragic event of the landslide of Agrigento.

Over the years it has maintained its cultural significance of peace among all peoples of the Earth. Thehighlight of the festival is always the lighting of the torch of friendship in front of the Temple of Concord, following a very impressive walk at sunset in the Valley of the Temples.

The following Sunday there is the Big Parade with all the folk groups, Sicilian carts and marching bands from the city to the Valley of the Temples, with a final show at the Temple of Concord and the awarding of the Golden Temple.

The Almond Blossom Festival in 2014

This year, the festival arrived to its 69th edition and took place from February 8 to March 16, 2014.

The countryside was filled with delicate almond blossoms and the famous valley of the temples of Agrigento offered a wonderful panorama. Every year new events were added to the festival and nowadays it also comprehended the international folklore festival (58th edition in 2014), the festival of the "Children of the world" (13th edition), typical sicilian carriage parades. The almond blossom festival is a moment of brotherhood between different cultures.