La Serenata: Agnone, Italy

The tradition of La Serenata -- The Serenade. In Agnone, Molise, Italy.
Apparently in the old days, the groom-to-be would serenade his bride the night before the wedding, begging for a kiss and to be let into her house. It was done to show how he just couldn't wait a whole day to see her. Imagine the trouble he'd be in if he didn't do the serenade?

During a festival held in Agnone, the town re-enacts this serenade in the historic centre. The men down below, singing love songs, pleading with the young woman to let the groom see her just once before the big day. Above, a group of women sing in response, "that's enough now, go and die. There's no way you're coming up, you've only been down there 4 hours, that's not long enough. When you've done 5, we'll think about it." They say 5, 6 and 7 hours isn't enough and so on, until the group gets tired and eventually they let the groom up.

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