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The Magical Valley of Arriri

Coming to the Arriri Festival in Sicily? Let me share with you my experience of the place, the landscape, the Sicilian rock, and I don’t mean the music. I visited Arriri valley for a long weekend with friends in spring 2017. Trying to find the superlatives to describe my experience…

’OMG’ doesn’t capture it. ‘Life changing’ it was, but the phrase is over-used. ’Awesome’, 'Incredible', yes, my experience was beyond belief at times… but none of those words does it. So I revert to the words of my host, my good friend who organised our beautiful gathering:

"Be aware.... Be prepared.... Be yourself.... and all will end with smiles  ;-)”

Info & Tickets

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World’s Largest Symphonic Gong

    • ARRIRI ::: The Music

  • 3 STAGES

    Three Music Stages Featuring International DJs, Live Acts, Sound Healing and Surround Sound with Music Composed Exclusively for ARRIRI. Music styles: Psytech, Psydub, Techno, Minimal, House, Trance, Dub, Chill-out, Live Acoustic, Psytrance, Psybient, Electronic….

    Arriri’s Sun stage, Powered by Mystical Sound System, presents:
    Mistical, Lupen, CR35TA, Ciuridda, DubShotta & PastaRasta.

     

     

    • ARRIRI ::: Participate

  • Would you like to participate in this event?
    We are looking to work together with a wide range of DJs, performers, artists, healers, vendors, volunteers, etc…

    Please fill out the form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible.












    Arriri!

    • ARRIRI ::: Full Moon Events

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    • ARRIRI ::: The Way

  • Directions:

    Nearest Airport: Catania “Fontanarossa” (CTA)

    Onward travel:

    The festival’s location is less than an hour’s drive from the airport.

    The exact location will be released shortly before the start of the festival.

    • ARRIRI ::: The Food

  • Did I mention the food? Did I mention that the area has biggest pistachios in world and the strongest flavoured Pachino tomatoes that only grow in Southern Sicily? The food is abundant, all of it tasty beyond belief. Arancini, Cannoli, Pizzoli, Parmigiana, Granita…. there just isn’t such a thing as bad food on Sicily. The Arriri valley has fields of nut trees that will be ripe during the festival, but try to leave alone the other wild food that you find in the woods, such as wild pigs and horses. It has been said that in the season the forest’s bounty even includes magic mushrooms.

    The Foraging Cooks

    Two of our Sicilian hosts were great foraging cooks, Antonella and her husband Ciccio (nicknamed Caravallo Pazzo or “Wild Horse” on account of his diminutive stature housing a giant inside). Late one night they allowed us to witness under torchlight Antonella foraging for herbs in the lush meadows, chatting away to herself in anticipation of the feast she was planning. She found wild spring onions, wild garlic, borage, mint and other green leave, which she later cooked on the campsite little 2-ring stove into an amazing meal for a dozen hungry English blokes.

    Ciccio kneaded chapatti bread (I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had ground the grain himself), rolled it using a beer bottle, then cooked it outside on the open fire, before Antonella wrapped each chapatti around some lumps of Ricotta (made from goats milk that afternoon) and spoonfuls of her cooked herb concoction. Served with local red wine beside the fire, it was a morsel of paradise. My mates and I had tasted Ricotta (the British supermarket version), but the homemade Sicilian variety, flavoured with hand-picked herbs and a pinch of chilli flakes, put smiles on our faces.

     

    • ARRIRI ::: The Magic

  • One with the Rock.

    April’s sun already burned, when I lay prostate on a rock overlooking the valley with a local guy, who teaches tantric sex to couch surfing travellers. Waddaguy! He was becoming one with the rock, lying across a giant boulder as if mounting it, telling us to make love to the rock from where our atoms originate. He feels connected to the rock, it was visible, believable.

    Visitors from all around the world.

    Later we visited his rooftop pad in Catania and read a few of the hundred goodbye notes left pinned to a door. We felt like we understood his couch surfing mentality. All these visiting Europeans who had felt the need to leave love notes to the Sicilian prince of tantra:
    “You changed my life” and “You made me see a new side to Sicily”…  There’s a natural freedom here, something raw, and alive with international souls.

    The Path of Arriri.

    Normally I’m all about finding your own way, creating your own path. But here… a word of warning: don’t come to the paradise valley expecting to be embraced and nurtured like you are in the maternal English countryside. This is Sicilian farming country at the foot of an active volcano. The landscape is magnificent but it will chew you up and spit you out, if you take the rocky route up the valley’s side like we did. The scenery on the plateau above the valley is worth the climb up the valley wall, and then some. You imagine yourself in a Palaeolithic landscape, with human cave homes, crystal springs, Roman aqueducts and flower meadows. Stick to the paths to enjoy these sights unscathed. Up here you can camp during the festival, and relax whilst overlooking the valley arenas and swimming pool. That’s my advice.

    • ARRIRI ::: Accommodation

  • Accommodation

    • 3 Nights included
    • Rustic camping
    • Showers & toilets
    • Bring your own tent, sleeping bag & sleeping mat
    • Dogs are not allowed anywhere on site.

    Sleeping Options

    • Main Rustic Camping Area.
    • Wild Camping Area.
    • Sleeping Under the Stars.
    • Hammock (bring your own).
    • Caves! The mountains surrounding the valley are studded with caves. Explore at your own discretion: Original Cave Man living, with no amenities.

    The Weather

    • Sunny during the day, Moony during the night.
    • Daytime temperatures are expected to be around 25-30 degrees.
    • Nighttime temperatures in October are 17 degrees on average. Be aware the mountain feels cold at night even during summer – bring something warm for sleeping if you intend to do that during the night.