SPRING
Easter is celebrated throughout Sicily with wonderful processions like the ones in Trapani. The countryside is gorgeous and from the coast to the inland and from Mount Etna to the isles, spring is the best time for trekking. In May and June at Siracusa’s Greek Theatre they perform the same tragedies written by Sophocles and Euripides 2500 years ago and premiered in that very theatre.
In May, the splendid Via Nicolaci in Noto is covered with flowers for the Infiorata di Noto.
SUMMER
Summer is beach time and the best time for a sailing holiday or an island-hopping. On August 10th Calici di Stelle is the chance to taste Sicilian wines in the cellars and amidst the vineyards on the starriest night of the year.
July 14th in Palermo is the unique ‘Festino di Santa Rosalia’, the colossal celebrations that the city arranges for its patron saint. Fireworks are not missing either on Lipari’s patron saint’s day, August 24th, where you can watch them from the boat and it’s pure magic.
AUTUMN
Maybe it’s autumn in the rest of Italy but here it’s more a late gentle summer and a great time to enjoy the beach with plenty of space to yourself.
October is olive harvest and a magic time in Sicily. Many families still have their own olive groves, and the ritual of the olive harvest is a feast of voices and colours involving the youngest, grandparents, women and grandchildren. The olives are then taken to the oil mill and some of them end up in brine for winter evenings and become olive schiacciate for appetizers and caponata.
November in the cellars is time of novello wine and November 2nd is La Festa dei Morti when the windows of pastry shops are brightly coloured with martorana fruit, delicious and super sweet marzipan tiny fruits.
WINTER
Dress up and go to the opera at Palermo’s Teatro Massimo! If Taormina or the seaside towns and the small villages are a bit sleepy in winter, the larger cities such as Palermo, Siracusa and Catania are lively and as authentic as ever. With almost no tourists, you can experience the city like a local, and like the locals you can eat the best cannolo ever, since the ricotta is fantastic in winter when the pastures are green.
February is the Sagra del Mandorlo in Fiore – Almond Blossom Festival – at the Archaeological Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. Or you can decide to be part of the amazing three day long celebrations of Sant’Agata (February 3d to 5th).