The Night of the Tarantula – Melpignano

27 August 2022. Popular traditional music festival of the Salento area

“La Notte della Taranta” (The Night of the Taranta) is festival focused on the traditional popular music of the Salento area that takes place on August 27th 2022 in Melpignano, where people dance till dawn.

What is the origin of the name?
According to popular traditions, the bite of “taranta” (the tarantula spider) provokes a form of hysteric behaviour characterized by excitability and restlessness.
The victims of the spider (tarantulees) had to engage in frenzied dancing to prevent death from tarantism.

This peculiar kind of dance, called the tarantella, is accompanied with a particular genre of music (pizzica) and was considered a cure for the tarantism.
In order to find the right rhythm that could be able to heal the victim, several musical instruments were involved, one of them was the tambourine.

Every year nearly 300.000 tourists come to Salento to take part in the “Notte della Taranta”.

INFORMATION
Fondazione la Notte della Taranta
Tel. +39 0836439008

See also the facebook page of the Night of the Tarantula>>>

CURIOSITIES
From the legend of Tarantula, in Italy the quote “have you been bitten by a tarantula?” is still used nowadays addressed to those who are considered unnecessarily agitated.

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And find also the further events in this period>>>