The first half of October sees the not to missed eel festival of Comacchio in the province of Ferrara.

We have been to Comacchio in mid July and enjoyed a grilled plate of the slippery fish.

But, although eels can be eaten throughout the year, the atmosphere of the festival at the self declared Italian capital of eels must be something special.

The Sagra dell'Anguilla is surprisingly only a decade old in its current form, but they must have been eating the things since Roman times.

Comacchio was an important Adriatic trading port for well over 1000 years.

Do look out for the wonderful Roman boat museum here or 'Museo della Nave Romana'.

A vessel from the 1st century BC was discovered near the town center in 1981 and is now on display with all its cargo.

Surrounded by the waters of the 'Valli', Comacchio is made up of small canals, huge bridges and popular traditions.

The event runs over two weekends and includes theatre performances, cooking competitions, exhibitions and the not to be missed balloon flights over the territory, as well as boat excursions.

Our press copy also mentions tastings of other local products accompanied with 'vini delle sabbie' or wines of the sands.

Very mysterious, but expect to be eating 'maccheroncini al sugo di pesce', 'fritto misto di valle', 'anguilla ai ferri con polenta', 'bodetto d’anguilla con polenta', 'seppie with peas' and 'dolcetto Comacchiese'.

www.turismocomacchio.it