End of August, Hope It's Not The End Of Summer!

I am sitting here at the computer wearing vest, shorts and sandals. The door is open and there is quite a strong breeze blowing the net curtain in and out. My thermometer on the mantlepiece says its 30c in here, so its probably warmer outside. It's after 6pm.
I don't want the summer to end. This year in particular has been so good. I enjoy feeling warm, having to shut the door to keep the midday heat out, sitting outside in the evenings, scootering around in shorts and tee shirt, wakening up to sun streaming in every morning and opening the door, looking up and down the street and smiling at the start of another sunny day.
It is the official end of the Italian summer holidays today and most of the tourists from the north have already left. The town is much quieter than  two weeks ago.
On the beach all the temporary bars will be being taken down and by the end of next week the beach will be deserted apart from a few people who come down with camper vans  and spend September by the  beach. The temperatures should still be good for most people (25c -30c or maybe more.)
In the next few weeks all the people who worked all through August in shops and bars will have a chance to take a holiday. They deserve it , some bars have been open 7 days a week from 6am till  midnight- or so it seemed as they were always open when I passed.
The last two weeks were not uneventful even after the buzz of the feste etc. There have been some bad fires around Pisticci and there was a serious chance that the country house could have been burned. The fire stopped about 200m from the house. Some friends' houses escaped when the fire passed much closer. Most damage has been done to the trees planted on the hills round Pisticci to prevent soil erosion.
It was quite frightening as you can see from the photo I took in the dark of the hill up to Pisticci on fire. Now driving up the road its all black on both sides.
Round by my studio you wouldn't know there had been a fire as it was mainly the other side that was affected.
So maybe next week, when my bottle of fake tan arrives in the post , I will go to the beach. (Am not appearing  without some sort of colour- and I just havent had the time or the inclination to sit or be outside getting brown. Though I did notice my toes are very brown, but that's not enough!)

And if this weather continues then maybe I can stretch summer out for another month.before I have to accept it's over.

Out every night till 2am - film festival and feste 2012

The last official day of the feste was yesterday, but there are still events for at least the next three days, so will get to continue to practise my new skill of staying up till 2am.
What a wonderful month it has been. There has been virtually no rain since June and the temperatures have been above 30c every day (including some days at 45c) so a lot of things happen in the evenings when it is cooler.
August began with fireworks, bells and a brass band at 6am not counting the all night party held round the corner.
Then there was my very first exhibition in Pisticci on the 7th and 8th of August . (http://bellabasilicata.wordpress.com )
And immediately after that the lucania film festival began with 4 days of films from all over the world. This year's special guest was award winning film director Emir Kusturica who spoke about film making to the many film makers from various countries who had come to Pisticci to compete for various prizes and also have a great time meeting people and no doubt enjoying Pisticci in the sun shine. I watched several feature length films, including  one directed by Emir Kusturica called , Black Cat, White Cat. I have ordered a copy with english subtitles as it was dubbed in Italian but was so funny I want to know what i missed. I have never seen anything like it, but would reccomend it . I also loved a film called Father ,Son and Holy Cow.I don't know who made it.
The finale of the film festival was a concert by Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra which was absolutely amazing. Teaching the Pisticcese to swear in english was only one of the many things that happened along with the music. It was great all round entertainment  with a Serbian flavour. You can find  short extracts from other concerts on youtube but you just had to be there in an open air arena with 4000 people all shouting "Fuck you MTV " jumping up and down, laughing, dancing and singing.. Indescribable!!
After that, a hard act to follow, there has been three days of Feste. That includes, processions, brass bands , horses, fireworks, bells, market stalls, thousands of people and at least three different entertainments on every night, from traditional plays, dancing and singing, rock singers, sixties group, accordion group and finally a burlesque performance. (Very funny)
I will have missed out lots but it was almost impossible to go to everything - though i did try! Tonight I am going to another traditional event, tomorrow night there is an italian film night , organised by the film festival and on tuesday night , I think , a classical evening. whew!!

I am the one with the camera and the strange expression.

The feste is best described in photos, though they don't do justice to the incredible noise of people talking and shouting, competing outdoor concerts  and finally fireworks.