February Festivals in Sicily
Catania holds another important festival in February, Saint Agatha's feast day, celebrated with a 2-day procession said to be the second largest religious procession in the world. During the procession Saint Agatha's statue is carried in a 40,000 pound silver carriage. Theresa Maggio gives a lively description of the Festival of St. Agatha in The Stone Boudoir: Travels through the Hidden Villages of Sicily (compare prices), one of my favorite books about Sicily.
Agrigento, famous for its Greek temples, holds an Almond Blossom Fair in February. Read more about Saint Agatha's Feast Day, the Almond Blossom Fair, and other Italian celebrations in February Festivals in Italy.
Sicily Travel: Sicily Travel Guide | Agrigento Travel Guide | Sicily Pictures
Comments
I spent Valentine’s Day in Sicily a few years ago. We had a marvelous week, touring temples and eating pasta alla norma, pesce spada (swordfish) and other local specialties. One lesson we learned the hard way was that you really, really need to make lunch and dinner reservations on big holidays in Sicily. We tried several restaurants in the Selinunte area before we found one that still had space available for Valentine’s Day dinner. (Oh, and be prepared to pay in cash at the last minute - the entire week we were there, we faced an epidemic of “broken” credit card processing equipment.)
Sicily in February is cool during the day, cold at night, and nearly empty of tourists. Wonderful!
We went to Sicily in March last year for Easter. There were a few pretty cold days but everyone said that was unusual. I’ve found the credit cards aren’t accepted many places we go in Italy, especially smaller family-run places, so I’m always ready to pay cash.
February in Sicily was chilly…no one commented, either, so I suspect that’s the norm. Our hotel host in Selinunte actually opened his hotel for us (he lived there, but it was otherwise empty), as did a hotel in Calabria on our return trip.
I’ve spend at least one night in every region of Italy and found Sicily to be the least credit card-friendly region. That’s not a bad thing (we usually pay with cash in Europe), it’s just worth noting for the benefit of other vacationers. You can’t rely on being able to pay with credit cards - sounds like your experiences match mine in this regard.