Every evening during the Buskers Music Festival, the quiet alley ways and piazzas of Ferrara would come to life with non-stop free live music. Over 900 bands from all over the world came and performed on every street corner and little nook there was. I hadn't realized what a big music festival this would be and it was so much fun! I went alone however it was easy to meet friendly people from all over Europe who had come in search of good live music. I was there for the first four days of the music festival, which happens every August, and I definitely hope to return in the future! I made friends with two of the bands who were invited to the festival: Broken Boyz from Marseille, France and La Tumabo De Juana from Barcelona, Spain. This post is all about the nighttime scene and food of the festival.....
Broken Boyz is a soul/reggae band with lead vocalist David Bardy (far right in picture), Siryel Werck on the guitar and Patrick Fenez on the drums. Here is a video of them performing at the music festival my favorite song, "Soul Shake Down Party." The band learned their soulful music in New Orleans and brought it back to France!
El Tumbao de Juana was an awesome Latin band with members from all over South America that had met on the streets of Barcelona and had a common passion for music. Mauro, on the bongos would end up hosting my friend and I in Spain the following month. Check out their myspace page here, really good stuff!
The best recommendations always from come from the locals and I was lucky enough to meet a nice young guy on the train who was happy to share his favorite late night eating places in Ferrara. The place was called Pizzeria Orsucci and it's a hole-in-the-wall institution with locals. They had just two things on the menu: beer and padella de ceci, a chickpea flour treat cooked in a wood fire oven.
Pizzeria Orsucci is located in the old city at Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, 76 near Castello Estense. Here is a photograph of the kid working the oven:
Another band I enjoyed is the eccentric Ilhaam Project. "Ilhaam" means inspiration in Arabic. The project incorporates French, Hebrew, Arabic, English in music with a mission for peace. The couple has a really great song which I haven't been able to find online, but the song is about the end of the world approaching and everyone has a big party in the streets. Sort of strange topic, but the song is rather hypnotizing. Here is a picture of the couple on the streets:
The late night food for the post-festival-party-goers is the Cornetteros. Cornetteros are bought from the Cornetteria which is only opened after dark and closes when the sun starts to come up. While the menu lists other items, I saw no sign of anything but these delicious treats inside the cafe: a warm, flaky, chocolate filled croissant with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
You can find the Cornetteria de Los Cornetteros at Via Carlo Mayr, 99:
Cheers to the Buskers Music Festival! It's hard to go wrong with good food and good music!
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