It's September. The nights are starting to draw in slightly, there is a colder snap in the air in the mornings and some of the older traditions of life in a small city based around a medieval castle come to the fore. September is of course, the time of vendemmia – grape picking (images here) but it is also the time for the September Cheese Rolling. Forget about the dangers of bull running in Pamplona in Spain, for the unprepared visitor to Barga, there is far more risk of being damaged by a fast moving (and strong smelling) sheep's cheese hurtling down one of the narrow streets of Barga Vecchia.
As tradition demands, the first cheese of the year is rolled out from Andrea Mazzolini's famous shop. (A full article about Andrea Mazzolini and his "we never close shop" can be found here)
So how old is this tradition?
good question dannyboy – nobody really knows