4 Best Performing Arts in Umbria and the Marches, Italy

If you've got a sweet tooth and are visiting in fall, book early and head to Perugia for Europe's largest chocolate festival, held for 10 days in mid-October.

The annual event, held in late June and early July, is one of the most important cultural happenings in Europe, attracting big names in all branches of the arts, particularly music, opera, and theater.

In 1958, composer Gian Carlo Menotti chose Spoleto for the first Festival dei Due Mondi, a gathering of artists, performers, and musicians intending to bring together the "new" and "old" worlds of America and Europe. (The famed, corresponding festival in Charleston, South Carolina is no longer connected to this festival.) The annual event, held in late June and early July, is one of the most important cultural happenings in Europe, attracting big names in all branches of the arts, particularly music, opera, and theater.

One of the world's biggest jazz festivals attracts big names and big crowds to Perugia for 10 days in July and to Orvieto for five days in December or January.