This is beautiful Omegna, a small city just 25 minutes by car from Stresa. Last weekend we came here for the San Vito festival, which takes place every year at the end of August. The highlight is the fireworks exhibition, part of the World Championship of Fireworks, which features a series of fireworks shows in different locations around the area. 

First of all, we somehow scored an amazing parking spot. Not easy at all, since 25,000+ people gather here for this fireworks show, the final in the summer series. We were parked near these boats below. Gorgeous day! As you can see many took advantage of the day to sunbathe, as well as save a spot for the show later. 

I was sort of missing an all-American Fourth of July, so fortunately the July 5th "Festa Country" in Stresa more than filled that need. With all the plaid shirts, cowboy hats, and boots that everyone was wearing, both visitors and the shopkeepers, waiters, and vendors alike, it was actually difficult to remember that this was Stresa I was walking through! And then add line dancing and a mechanical bull, and the illusion became pretty complete.

The gorgeous weather didn't hurt any either. We stayed out in the town all through lunch, and then again through the evening. Almost all of the shops were adorned with bales of hay and "country" decorations. Country music played everywhere.

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For those of you here or visiting this summer, below find several upcoming Summer events and special activities involving Isola Bella. Two of them bring you to Isola Bella at night, the third gives you a great view of said island from Stresa, lit up at night, while the fourth tranquilly transports you around the islands at night. The dilemma will be how to fit them all into your plans!

Every Friday, from 13 June through 29 August, 2014, Isola Bella is hosting Calici Sotto Le Stelle, Glasses Under the Stars. A 10 Euro ticket gets you transport to Isola Bella, a wine glass (the calice), and your first drink. On the island you'll find live music and vendors selling street food, while island restaurants and bars will also be open and joining in the fun. Drinks are discounted in establishments participating in this promotion. Each Friday evening a different type of music will be offered, beginning with Beatles and Rolling Stones classics! 

The last Saturday of each month a similar event is offered, called Sabato al'Isola, Saturday at the Island. By making a dinner reservation at a restaurant on the island participating in the promotion, you receive free transport to and from. There will be live music on the island also on these nights.

Transport to the island begins at 20.00 (8:00 pm), from the Carciano dock (where the cableway station is).

Summer visitors, here they are!   All the engagements for the Stresa Festival 2014. This year's festival has been given the name "Music on the Move." Events begin on July 24 with the Jazz Concerts and end on September 6 with the last of the "Music on the Move" concerts.

What's new this year?

Six Midsummer Jazz Concerts during the weekend of July 24 through July 27, an increase from four in previous years .

New this year, you can buy your tickets online, AND, download the ticket pdf onto your smartphone to show at the door. No more need to print a ticket.

Downloadable brochures of the concert schedule and artist information.

Concert 1000!  Friday, August 22, 2014 marks the first concert of the 2014 season, but it also marks the 1000th concert ever of the Stresa Festival. To celebrate the event, Stresa Festival director Gianandrea Noseda will lead the orchestra and choir of the Teatro Regio di Torino in a special performance at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Stresa. 

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Hear ye, hear ye! Carneval week has arrived again! The annual procession of King Falcett took place on a warm and sunny day, and after the Falcett procession to Piazza Marconi the entire entourage continued on to Piazza Cadorna as always for the costume judging. After a proclamation from the King and Queen, the contestants each had a chance to display their costumes. There were categories for single costumes, pairs, and groups. Below are the first and second place winners this year:

On this Saturday one can find a host of activities, both traditional favorites and new additions, around town:

Too cute. Isola Pescatori has been transformed into l'Isola dei Balocchi, the Island of Toys. After purchasing your ticket and special blue wristband from the special Blue Fairy at the special gazebo set up in Piazza Marconi, children and families can board the ferry to the island to experience different activities set up just for them. There's old-fashioned puppet shows, readings of fairy tales (by fairies of course!), and game stations. Three restaurants on the island have arranged special meals and play stations for the children, so the adults can also enjoy.

Here are some short video highlights produced by Stresa Festival of some of this recently closed season's 25 performances. The season, which ran from July 19 through September 7, was divided into three segments. The weekend of July 19 through July 21, called Midsummer Jazz Concerts, comprised five jazz performances. Musical Meditations (Meditazioni in musica)  was the segment from July 25 through July 28. And Between Heaven and Earth (Tra terra e cielo) featured 16 performances between August 24 and the September 7 closing. If you've enjoyed any of these performances, reminisce. If you haven't, then you can get a glimpse of what you've been missing and plan for next year. 

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Verbanella has long been famous in Stresa for its cocktails, so I've come up with a little 'recipe' of my own. I call it 'Jazz on the Lake':

 Jazz nights are a summer tradition that continues. Check the website or walk by for the current schedule.  Cafe Bar Verbanella

photos courtesy of the cafe bar verbanella website

I love Stresa... You love Stresa too, right? But lest you should forget this, you can remember it always, per sempre, with these sweet alabaster heart paperweights. You can find them all year, not just today, at the beautiful shop that sells jewelry, glass, and stone items, facing Piazza Possi, in between Osteria dei Amici and the arch leading to the Friday market. You know where I mean.

A tutti i miei amici di Stresa Sights ... Buon San Valentino. 

Each year during the Christmas season Stresa offers citizens and guests the opportunity to attend a free concert at the Stresa Convention Center. This building is Stresa's large, modern, cultural and business center. Throughout the year there are numerous events here, for both arts and commerce. Below is a photo of the Center, maybe you've noticed it, located on Piazzle Europa, basically behind and to the right of the Regina Palace Hotel. 

Then, following a marked path throughout the town, one begins a tour of 56 different shops or areas. Each was clearly labeled with its original dialect name. The first stop was the feree', the iron workers, seen in the photo below. They, as all of the volunteers, were actually 'working'; in the iron shop they were creating tools using 300-year-old methods. A charming fact to know is that many of the volunteers in this event are actual present-day practitioners of same trade they were demonstrating. And sometimes, their families had been in this trade for all these generations since the 1700s. Much of the equipment and items being used comes from personal family collections of this type. The pride of sharing these family traditions was visibly evident to me, and a unique feeling that I cannot relate to often in the U.S.

With the performance by the Frankfurt Radio Sinfonie-Orchester and Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili last month, the wildly successful 52nd season of the Stresa Festival was closed.