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21 May 2009 Cascine Park, Florence

Festa del Grillo, or the Cricket festival (first Sunday after Ascension Thursday), Le Cascine Florence. The huge park to the west of Florence is the setting for this event, celebrations of the joys of spring. Stallholders used to sell live crickets, which where then released to bring good luck. In recent years protests have been raised about the cruel and meaningless mistreatment of the animals, as results, these days the festival is celebrated with handmade crickets that make noise just as the real ones.

This eventful festival also offers stalls selling food and sweets. There are musical shows and entertainment throughout the day, with joyous atmosphere.

Legend says that the boys used to bring flowers to the houses of their fiancees along with a singing cricket in a little box. The crickets were believed to bring good luck. Cascine Park - this huge farming estate, situated between the Arno and the Mugnone rivers, which belonged to the Medici family, was turned into a park by Giuseppe Manetti towards the end of the 18th century. The enthronement of Ferdinand III took place here in 1791.