History and Program

With the names of the two funny local characters, the Folk Group Manghin e Manghina was born in Galliate in 1971.

In Italian they mean Dominic and Dominique. They are old-time country people, who , with their poor education, excel in wit, sharpness and artfulness, qualities of common people lived when everything was more genuine.

The costumes of the group refer to the clothes worn by the common people from Galliate in the 19th century on fest days.

The group performs in parades, on stages or in squares and proposes a program of music, songs, dances that originate from the Low area of Novara, Piedmont and other regions.
Its repertoire includes some sketches and foresees the participation of the audience on many occasions and can last up to two hours or being simply a short appearance on special occasions.

The lyrics and the dances take inspiration from the typical local products, old-time jobs, moments of cheerfulness, tales about brainwaves of common people from Galliate and strange stories that have been passed down over the centuries.
The singing repertoire includes dialectal pieces from Galliate and piedmntese popular songs.
During the show, the group introduces old-time jobs such as the grinder, the weaver, the woodcutter, the countrywoman, the carter that drove draught animals with the cracks of his whips. Very special is the presentation of the first wedding night set at the time they were.
The instruments used in the performances are the accordion, the clarinet, the trumpet, the bass tuba, the guitar, the drum, the tambourine, and the wooden whip.

The group is made up of about 30 elements and owns an amplifying system, with CEE certification, that works very well also open air and if necessary, two 1000 Watt lights in order to light up the area of the show.

The group in the world

The folk group Manghin e Manghina has represented Italy in international shows in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Poland, Finland, Russia, Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Republic of Moldova, Mexico and Argentina.

During the first week of July in odd years, the group organizes the International Folk in Galliate and some neighbor towns with the participation of other groups from all over the world.

For more information please visit our website: www.manghinemanghina.it