Checking through the archives of giornaledibarganews, we find the following text from a decade ago: The annual San Rocco fair brings thousands of people flooding in to Barga. One of the attractions is the street market with hundreds of stalls lining the streets of Barga selling everything from the traditional San Rocco goods such as melons, onions, garlic, sweets, pots and pans to the more exotic articles such as small green iguanas, African drums, silk kimonos and Chinese medicines.There is such a huge amount of things on display that the shopping binge has to take place over 2 days to get everything in. Local people take their knives and scissors to be sharpened by Umberto the Arrotino (article here) and stock up for the coming winter with onions and garlic.
During the day local musicians keep the crowds entertained but in the evening its time for some serious stuff. The roads are blocked off, tables are put out where once were parked cars and the serious evening festa begin -- the Giovanna and Antonio Menza Orchestra.
Nothing appears to have changed in the last 10 years … the above text could quite easily have been written this afternoon and yet, speaking with people in the piazzas of Barga today there seems to be a definite difference in the perception of how the effect was in 2011. Most people said there seemed to be far less people moving around the fair and most of the traders, when asked replied that there was much less money floating around … according to them, people were spending far less this year. Could this be a self fulfilling prophesy ? …. very difficult to say as there does seem to be the usual crowds in the streets but maybe they were out earlier and spent less, who knows. One thing is for sure though, most people seems to have a black cloud on their horizon as far as the future is concerned. It maybe San Rocco, the traditional summer festa but the party is a bit forced this year with many people already with a wary eye on the coming winter.
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St. Rocco was born of noble parentage about 1340 A.D. in Montpellier, France. At birth it was noted that he had a red cross-shaped birthmark on the left side of his chest. As a young child, St. Rocco showed great devotion to God and the Blessed mother. At an early age, his parents died leaving him an orphan under the care of his uncle, the Duke of Montpellier. Soon after, St. Rocco distributed his wealth among the poor and took a vow of poverty.
St. Rocco dressed in the clothes of a pilgrim and departed for Rome. Along the way, he stopped at Aquapendente, which was stricken by the plague, and devoted himself to the plague victims, curing them with prayer and the sign of the cross. He next visited Cesena and other neighboring cities, and then finaly Rome. Legend has it that everywhere he visited, the terrible scourge disappeared before his miraculous power. He visited Mantua, Modena, Parma, and other cities, all with the same results.
During his travels, he too contracted the plague which was evident by an open sore on his leg. Rocco was banished from the city and took refuge in a cave. There he slept on leaves and drank water from a small stream. Miraculously a dog that refused to eat, faithfully brought him bread as a means of sustenance. The dog used to leave a nearby castle and the lord of this castle having a curious nature followed this dog into the woods and discovered Rocco. The nobleman had pity on Rocco and brought him to his castle where Rocco was cured -- source
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Guardando negli archivi di giornaledibarganews, troviamo il seguente articolo di una decina di anni fa: la fiera annuale San Rocco ha portato a Barga migliaia di persone. Una delle attrazioni è appunto la fiera con centinaia di bancarelle lungo le strade di Barga che vendono di tutto, dalla tradizionale mercanzia di San Rocco, angurie, meloni, cipolle, aglio, dolci, pentole e padelle, agli articoli più esotici come piccole iguane verdi, tamburi africani, kimono di seta e medicine cinesi. C’è una quantità enorme di cose a disposizione per questi due giorni di shopping sfrenato.
La gente di Barga acquista coltelli e forbici per l’ affilatura (article here) e fa magazzino per il prossimo inverno con cipolle e aglio. Durante il giorno musicisti locali intrattengono le folle e la sera le strade vengono bloccate al traffico, i tavoli messi fuori e comincia a suonare l’orchestra di Antonio Maenza.
Niente appare cambiato negli ultimi dieci anni… Il suddetto testo potremmo tranquillamente averlo scritto questo pomeriggio, ma parlando con la gente di Barga ci pare invece di avvertire unna differenza di fondo tra quella che era la fiera dieci anni fa e quella che è nel 2011.
La maggior parte delle persone ha detto di aver visto meno gente in giro e la maggior parte dei commercianti ha dichiarato che si sono visti meno soldi. A loro parere la gente sta spendendo molto meno quest’anno.
Ci è molto difficile valutare se in effetti ci sia stata meno gente o se magari sono venuti alla fiera prima o dopo di noi e nemmeno se hanno speso di più o di meno. Una cosa è invece certa. La maggior parte delle persone sembra avere una nuvola nera sulla testa per quanto riguarda il futuro. La preoccupazione per quello che sarà appare tangibile.
Forse quest’anno San Rocco, la tradizionale fiera dell’estate, è stata vista come il momento per guardare con occhio prudente al prossimo inverno.
