Author Archive: ronan

Il Cavallo di Fuoco

Il Cavallo di Fuoco – The Fire Horse – Ripatransone

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When you come to Ripatransone for the Ripa International Festival of Sound, like everyone else, you will fall in love with Ripatransone. This will inevitably lead to you wanting to return the week after easter for Il Cavallo di Fuoco (The Fire Horse or Lu Cavalla de Fuoca in the Ripano dialect) This is the most important secular cultural event of the year. It is a seemingly crazy, but beautiful tradition dating back to the 1600s where a large horse statue is paraded through the town center while it shoot sparks and fireworks into the sky and into the crowd.

It is had to explain, but the event is strangely beautiful and emotional.

Tradition has it that getting hit by sparks brings good look for the next year. 

Learn more about it on Wikipedia

The Barbie Museum Ripatransone

Due Cipressi Agriturismo / Museo delle Barbie di Ripatransone / The Barbie Museum of Ripatransone

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If you attend The Ripa International Festival of Sound without a car, you will have no problems finding lots of great food and wine. We currently have two wonderful restaurants, cafes and a take-away food shop run by a master chef. There are even  rumors that we will have more options by September. But if you do have a car and want to drive 5 or 10 minutes to a different part of Ripatransone, there is something really special to discover…

Due Cipressi Agriturismo / Museo delle Barbie di Ripatransone / The Barbie Museum of Ripatransone

Due Cipressi (or 2 cypresses) is a fantastic restaurant serving traditional Marchigiani food at very good prices. They are famous for their lamb dishes. But what really makes this restaurant something special is that it houses the Barbie Museum of Ripatransone. An amazing collection of Barbie dolls from the last half a century, curated by Rosella Iobbi, a passionate collector that has been assembling the museum for decades. The museum is not large, but the collection is rich and diverse, and is fascinating even for people that are not generally interested in Barbie, or fashion dolls. The curator of the museum has been invited to showcase parts of the collection around the world, including the Cannes Film Festival.

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Latest update on registration opening.

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I am excited that we already have people from The United States, France, Iceland, Spain, Italy and Canada saying they want to come the The Ripa International Festival of Sound. People have been asking when we will officially open registration. He is the latest.

We are trying to sort out some bureaucratic details relating to running the Festival as a non profit fundraiser for some local cultural organizations. It would not be Italy without a few bureaucratic adventures. We hope to get that sorted out in the next few weeks and then we can officially start registering people. To be one of the first to know make sure you are signed up for our newsletter.

Official dates for 2026 have been confirmed.

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The official dates for the first Ripa International Festival of Sound have been announced!

The event will run from September 24-27, 2026 In Ripatransone, one of the most beautiful medieval hill towns of Italy.

We will be posting more details and opening registration over the next few months.