The Maggio delle Ragazze (“May of the Girls”) is one of the oldest spring festivals in the Apennines. Traces of it in Riolunato go back to 1660; rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century, it has been held every three years since then in the village’s old centre, to welcome the return of the warm season and wish everyone good health and good harvests.
It all begins on the night between 30 April and 1 May. The young men of the village, the maggiolanti, walk the streets by the light of torches and lanterns, with guitars, violins and mandolins, and stop outside the houses to sing a greeting: each family receives its own verse, written especially for it. Beneath a girl’s window they sing the «ambasciata d’amore», the love message: if a light goes on, the serenade is welcome; if the window stays dark, it is not. The singing goes on until morning, and families return the favour with something to eat and a coffee.
The second part of the festival is on the second Sunday in May: families bring gifts to the maggiolanti, in the afternoon a procession crosses the decorated squares to the churchyard, where the traditional songs are sung and danced, and the gifts collected are used for a dinner of crescentine and gnocco fritto. For several editions, musicians from the Faroe Islands, linked to Riolunato by a long friendship, have also taken part.
The last edition took place in 2025: if the three-year rhythm holds, the next one will be in spring 2028.