Cicala Located in Calabria, Southern Italy

Name means cricket

Population about approx. 1500 people

Daily Life• Children attend the

local school, most people work farms or at the local factory, or go into the bigger cities for work

• Many people meet in the town square – the piazza at night to play cards, have a coffee and socialize

• On Sundays people attend mass at Chiesa di San Giacomo

Resources

• Cicala is most known for chestnut’s.

• You can even find chestnut flour at the local Italian store imported right from the small town!

Language

• The primary language spoken in Italy is Italian.

• Each small town or regions have a different dialect. In Cicala they speak Cicalese.

Music, art and food

• Traditional music and dances include folk dances such as the Tarantella – which means tarantula, you dance wildly as if there was a spider on you!

• The Organetto is a smaller acordian or “squeeze box”

• Food is VERY important to Italians, traditional dishes include, pasta, fish, fried bread, pizza, risotto, tiramisu, cheeses and different types of torta (cakes)

Traditions and celebrations

• In Cicala our patron Saint is San Giacamo. On July 25th we carry out saint around and pin money onto him.

• There is a big procession (everyone in the town follows him around). In the night there is a big FESTA (party!) we eat, dance and celebrate all night long! It’s so much fun!

The land

• Cicala is quite hilly, it is mostly farm land and the soil is rich and grows fruits, vegetables and trees grow very well.