Once Upon a Time in Sappada

On Saturday 5 September, from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm, the hamlets of Cima and Cretta travel back in time with ancient crafts, traditional costumes, customs and scenes of everyday life.

For one afternoon, time will seem to stand still. The streets, houses and old hay barns will once again fill with men and women in period dress, the tools of the past will come back to life, and the hamlets will echo once more with the voices of the ancient Sappada dialect.

On Saturday 5 September, from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm, “Once Upon a Time in Sappada” returns – the historical re-enactment dedicated to the ancient rural civilisation and to the memory of the Sappada community, now in its fifth edition.

This year’s edition takes place in Borgata Cima, Zepodn, and Borgata Cretta, Krètte, which will be transformed into a great open-air stage, taking visitors and residents back to the Sappada of times gone by: a collective story told through gestures, faces, trades and knowledge handed down from generation to generation.

Along the route, scenes of everyday life from the past will come to life, performed by re-enactors in traditional costume: household chores, work in the fields, animal husbandry, the processing of raw materials and ancient artisan crafts will recreate the atmosphere of a mountain community deeply bound to the land, the seasons and its work. Adding to the charm of the re-enactment is the authentic setting of Sappada’s hamlets, with their traditional wood and stone architecture and the Dolomites as a backdrop.

S’Kottlars Haus comes back to life

The old museum house “S’Kottlars Haus” in Borgata Cretta will also symbolically become a lived-in home once again. Its rooms, keepers of the memory of old Sappada, will help tell the story of a daily life marked by rhythms very different from those of today: work, family, caring for the home and the animals, and all the small gestures that shaped the identity of the community.

A heritage brought back to life where it was born

“Once Upon a Time in Sappada” was created precisely with the aim of preserving and passing on this intangible heritage – presenting traditions not through a simple exhibition, but by bringing them back to life in the very places where they were born. Visitors will be able to observe now-rare gestures and crafts up close, listen to the sound of the Sappada dialect, and meet the people who safeguard the knowledge, memories and skills of the valley’s rural culture.

The event is a journey through memory: a way of telling younger generations where Sappada comes from, and of sharing the community’s most authentic soul with its guests.

Useful information

Admission is free. The event is organised by the Zepodar Sende Association in collaboration with the Plodar Association and the Sappada Dolomiti Tourism Consortium.

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