To round off the summer, don't miss the tasty appointment with the International Festival of Brodetto and Fish Soup in Fano, a city in the province of Pesaro-Urbino. 4 days in the first half of September, starting from Thursday to Sunday, during which professional chefs coming from all over Italy and abroad get into a real competition for the best fish soup. Every participant presents his own variant to the traditional recipe of his area, that is judged by a selected jury of experts.
The event was created in 2002 and takes place in the area of Lido di Fano, along the boulevard overlooking the sea. There's a central stage for entertainment with music concerts, live shows of various kind, books'launches and the so called Palabrodetto, a structure set up for the occasion where people can sit through the challenges for the best soup, lessons on fish and many cooking shows with the possibility of doing tastings, but usually upon reservation and payment. Great importance is given also to the trade show, with stands offering homemade typical products from any region of Italy.
To taste the brodetto - the official star of the festival - or one of the other dishes of the local cooking tradition, there are several stands managed by local restaurants, both for lunch and dinner. If you want to stop for a meal, my suggestion is to opt for Thursday or Friday, which are usually less crowded days. You could better enjoy the food and the beautiful view over the sea!
If you rather prefer restaurants to street food, you should know that during the whole month of the festival you can profit of the so called Fuori Brodetto, an initiative taken by a network of restaurants of Le Marche region offering fish soup at very special prices. During this period you can order this popular dish every day of the week in one of the more than 30 partner restaurants.
If you want to lear more about the program of the Festival, here's the link to the official web page of the event: http://www.festivalbrodetto.it/programma/