Has anyone been to the Almabtrieb in Sesto/Sexten? It looks like such a fun festival, and we happen to be nearby for this year's event (Sept 23). My question: the event timing is listed as 12:00-18:00. I'm making a guess that this is for the entire festival, not just the time for the cows to arrive? The only reason it matters is we were planning to head to our next destination that day, but we'd happily wait to leave until 15:00 or 16:00 to see such an interesting local tradition. I'd love to hear your experience, if you've attended.
Posted by
Bay Area, California
1638 posts
It's going to be fun. I am sure that 12-18:00 is the time for the whole festival. Cows descend at random times during this window. I did not attend the one at Sexten, but in other parts of Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Arrive early for a parking spot, if you are not using public transit.
Posted by
OP
NC, US
219 posts
Thanks for the comment, @barkinpark. We would be coming from nearby Dobbiaco, so we could arrive anytime. I can imagine the cows showing up randomly, I just wondered if there's a "predominant" time frame they'd likely arrive . Do they utilize herding dogs like they do in NZ with the sheep? (Amazing to watch them bring the herd down the mountain.)
Posted by
Bay Area, California
1638 posts
It's hard to say. For most events, the cows did not arrive right at the beginning of the festival. I guess the whole point was to allow time for folks to patronize the food and handicraft stalls.
I did not see herding dogs.
Posted by
Minnesota, Wisconsin & Italy
104 posts
We did not attend the Almatrieb festival in Sexten, but did attend one in Lajen in Val Gardena. I assume it would be a similarly run festival. The festivities kicked off with food/drink and live music and ended with a parade of cows through the village. The parade itself lasted about 45 minutes. If you leave before 16:00 PM you may not see the actual parade. We enjoyed ourselves before the parade so I still highly recommend visiting the festival.