Damp New Year celebrations

Once again the weather played an important part in the traditional celebrations here in Barga.  For many years it has been the habit of many Barghigiani  to find themselves standing at the highest point in Barga Vecchia – the Duomo,  with a few minutes to spare to the end of the year.

As midnight arrives the air is filled with the sound of exploding fireworks as rockets shoot up into the sky right across the valley to celebrate the New Year.  Generally it is a show not to be missed.

This year with the continual torrential rain which has been affecting this area with such disastrous consequences further down the valley,  it was a very damp and bordering on miserable affair with just a handful of brave celebrants huddled under their umbrellas clutching their Spumante and plastic cups trying to remain buoyant and cheerful as one or two colourful rockets did manage to break their way out of the  ground level cloud.

The weak cheer which went up whenever  a particularly large rocket exploded with a bang was more or less drowned out by the sound of the rain hammering on their umbrellas.

Within 15 minutes it was all over and the piazza outside the Duomo was deserted once more.

[View with PicLens]

Miserable, miserable, miserable.

So it came as a cheery surprise winding down from the Duomo through the narrow streets of  Barga Vecchia  to find the  door of the Barga Jazz Club invitingly wide open and some great music streaming out into the street.

It might be damp and miserable outside but inside it was a different world -  a little steamy,  but nevertheless the party was here.

The second (and more cheerful part) of this article can be seen here.

• New Year celebrations in Barga
• Electrovisions to play Barga Jazz Club
• The Electrovisions Project play BJC
• New year celebrations in the Barga Jazz Club