There is a huge procession with music, costumes and flags, and a run around the city's famous walls, streets and piazzas. Florence, too, can be seen by candlelight on 7 and 8 September during the Festa della Rificolona when children run through the streets carrying paper lanterns.Several Tuscan towns also hold archery festivals. And though Siena's famous Palio – a bareback horse race round the central piazza – takes place in July and August, many smaller towns host their own versions throughout the autumn. An excellent list of autumn festivals can be found on a good family-run website, . For general tourist information check out or contact the Italian State Tourist Board (020-7408 1254, ). WHAT ABOUT PARTY FOOD? Almost every town, regardless of size, holds food festivals. Among them is Montalcino's honey week, where everything derived from the beehive is available to buy. Pienza has a pecorino (cheese) festival, the Fiera del Cacio.
Originally a market to sell whatever was left over from the harvest, there's now a huge amount of local produce on sale and festivities such as the cacio al fuso, in which teams roll a cheese wheel. Camaiore holds a less appetising lard festival.In October, the chestnut harvest gets under way (chestnuts have for centuries been part of the traditional Tuscan diet). There are chestnut festivals in Cortona and Arcidosso, offering revellers chestnut pizzas, pasta and polenta.Tuscan food in general offers many mouthwatering specialities. In Florence, savour the huge Fiorentina steaks; around Cortona and Arezzo porchetta (roast pork) is a real speciality, while the best beef in Italy is said to come from the Chiana valley near Cortona. TO WASH IT ALL DOWN? Tuscany is the nursery of some of the world's best loved and most acclaimed wines, and September and October are particularly important months as they bring the grape harvest, the vendemmia.Across Tuscany, people turn out in a collective effort to strip grapes from their local vines, gathering them in plastic containers which are carried to the end of each row and tipped into the barrows that can often be seen being dragged slowly behind tractors on country roads.
Most vineyard owners still harvest by hand, with only a few in Chianti relying on machines. Only a small number of vinegrowers, however, still crush the grapes under bare feet.The region has conveniently established "wine roads" or strade, along which there are clusters of vineyards. There are 14 recognised strade, each characterised by the cultivation of a particular kind of vine.Cellars are open to the public, and visiting them is an ideal way to glimpse the vendemmia. Apart from the famed chianti classico, vino nobile di Montepulciano and the upmarket brunello di Montalcino, try the "Super Tuscan" wines which emerged in response to chianti's decling status.In Greve, the Rassegna del Chianti Classico gives locals the opportunity to enjoy the drink that has made them famous across the world. The bacchanal festival, complete with feasting and dancing, showcases their regional tipple. AND TRUFFLE-HUNTING? In autumn, if you go down to the woods in the middle of the night, chances are you'll hear a lot of grunting and rustling.