Pea Festival? Yes! In Italy, sweet peas are a huge deal. These little legumes mark the arrival of Spring, and are the co-star of a famous Venetian dish: Risi e Bisi (rice and peas). And Lumignano, a quaint little village a mere bike ride from Vicenza, Italy where I live in the Veneto region, just may have the best peas in all of Italia.

But the best part? This weekend, Lumignano holds a Pea Festival, an annual event which serves as a major inspiration behind my current read-aloud picture book (co-authored by Dr. Sam), EscapePeas! The idea of our space peas making their way to the festival in order to find the Queen and King of Peas served loosely to parallel Dorothy (and Toto!), the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion’s journey to Oz in order to find the Great Wizard. But like Dorothy’s crew, the peas just might discover that the answer to their problem was within them all along.

But back to Lumignano and its peas: This little village is so renowned for its peas that the Doges of Venice used to demand nothing much Lumignano peas for the Risi e Bisi dished served during the Feast of Saint Mark’s in late April. I found a recipe for Risi e Bisi, the link of which is posted below. Happy Pea Festival!

Risi e Bisi recipe: Risi e bisi: the recipe for the Doge’s first course | Visitvenezia.eu