Reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen closed to within 12 points of leader Lando Norris heading into final round in UAE next weekend.
Published On 30 Nov 202530 Nov 2025
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Four-time Formula One (F1) world champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing kept the three-way 2025 drivers’ championship battle alive with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after securing victory in the penultimate race of the season at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
Verstappen closed to within 12 points of McLaren’s Norris, who finished fourth at Lusail Circuit, heading into the 24th and final round in Abu Dhabi next weekend.
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Norris’s teammate Piastri finished second in the race after starting on pole position and is now 16 points behind in the championship battle. But the Australian is still in with a chance to win the drivers’ title.
Carlos Sainz of Williams finished third in Qatar to round out the podium behind Verstappen and Piastri.
The victory was Verstappen’s 70th grand prix career victory.
The top three drivers now each have seven wins for the 2025 season.
Max Verstappen leads the race during the Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail Circuit, Qatar on November 30, 2025 [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera]
McLaren get it wrong on early safety car call
Piastri won the holeshot to the first corner with Norris alongside him on the front row, only to be overtaken by Verstappen, who began the race from third spot on the grid.
During lap seven, Red Bull pitted Verstappen under a safety car, resulting in a free pit stop, unlike McLaren, which kept its two drivers out on the track, resulting in Norris and Piastri losing valuable time later when they made their final stop.
This played into Verstappen’s hands, with the Dutchman able to control the race for the remainder of the 57-lap contest, crossing the finish line ahead of Piastri by just under eight seconds.
“Clearly, we did not get it right tonight,” conceded Piastri.
“I drove as fast as I could, but it wasn’t to be. In hindsight, it is pretty obvious what we should have done, but we’ll discuss that as a team. [It’s] a little bit tough to swallow at the moment,” the Australian added.
Verstappen said: “An incredible race for us. We made the right call to box under that safety car. A strong race for us on a weekend that was tough.”
The McLarens now head to Abu Dhabi with a hard-charging Verstappen looking to repeat history by clinching a championship in the last race at Yas Marina, having done so when he overtook Lewis Hamilton on the final lap after a controversial finish in 2021.
“It’s possible now, but we will see,” said Verstappen, who had written off his chances earlier this season. “I don’t really worry about it too much.”
Max Verstappen crosses the finish line to win the Formula One Qatar Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit [Karim Jaafar/AFP]
Reports say doctors diagnosed the woman with critically low blood sugar, likely leading to her weakened condition.
Published On 25 Nov 202525 Nov 2025
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A woman in Thailand has shocked staff at a Buddhist temple when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation.
Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of the capital, Bangkok, posted a video on its Facebook page, showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pick-up truck, slightly moving her arms and head, leaving temple staff bewildered.
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Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, told The Associated Press news agency on Monday that the 65-year-old woman’s brother drove her from the province of Phitsanulok to be cremated.
He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin.
“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he said.
“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”
According to Pairat, the brother said his sister had been bedridden for about two years, when her health deteriorated and she became unresponsive, appearing to stop breathing two days ago.
The brother then placed her in a coffin and made the 500km (300-mile) journey to a hospital in Bangkok, to which the woman had previously expressed a wish to donate her organs.
The hospital refused to accept the brother’s offer as he didn’t have an official death certificate, Pairat said. His temple offers a free cremation service, which is why the brother approached them on Sunday, but was also refused due to the missing document.
The temple manager said that he was explaining to the brother how he could get a death certificate when they heard the knocking. They then assessed her and sent her to a nearby hospital.
The abbot said the temple would cover her medical expenses, according to Pairat.
According to the Thailand News website, doctors later diagnosed the woman with severe hypoglycaemia, or critically low blood sugar, and confirmed she had not experienced cardiac or respiratory failure.
They were battered, they were bruised, they were soaking wet and covered in stereotypes.
They’re not tough enough. They’re not resilient enough. They’re not Big Ten-enough.
Late in the second quarter Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum, a USC football team fighting for a playoff berth was crumbling beneath the weight of its worst national perception.
It was wilting under the weather and the weight of a team from Iowa.
Then, with big swings from a deep strength that few thought a Lincoln Riley team possessed, everything changed.
It’s raining wins, hallelujah.
Trailing 21-7, the Trojans got muddy and chilly and just plain mean, winning the line of scrimmage, winning the battle of skill, and eventually winning the game 26-21.
Yeah, afterward, that was Riley dancing in a downpour.
And, yes, USC is still in the national championship hunt, needing wins in its final two games at Oregon and against UCLA to qualify for the College Football Playoff.
Few will believe they can beat sixth-ranked and one-loss Oregon in Eugene. But then again, few believed they would survive Iowa after the Hawkeyes took that big second-quarter lead.
During the last 10 years, Iowa had an 83-5 record when leading by eight points or more. Translated, this is a program that knows how to protect a lead, and the Trojans were seemingly cooked.
But Makai Lemon made 153 yards worth of spectacular catches, King Miller ran for 83 bruising clock-killing yards, Jahkeem Stewart made a game-changing interception, Jayden Maiava held it together with a touchdown pass and no turnovers, and the game essentially appropriately ended with USC just being stronger.
On a fourth-down pass in the final minute, Kennedy Urlacher shoved Kaden Wetjen out of bounds as he was making a grab deep in Trojan territory.
No catch, game over, and in the end, the Trojans were as hearty as that section of fans that witnessed the game shirtless.
The afternoon started with groundskeepers drying the field with leaf blowers, the first rainy game at the Coliseum in nine years.
USC coach Lincoln Riley celebrates with wide receiver Prince Strachan during the second half of a 26-21 comeback win over Iowa at the Coliseum on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
But for USC under Riley, it felt the same, a late-season game requiring the sort of grimy toughness that his Trojans had yet to show.
Blew five fourth-quarter leads last season. Blew four of their last five games two seasons ago. Blew the Pac-12 championship game and a shot at the playoffs three seasons ago.
It looked like they were going to blow it again.
Iowa took the opening kickoff and drove 69 yards in seven plays in a bruising drive punctuated by a fourth-down, two-yard touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Dayton Howard in the back of the end zone.
Yes, the FBS’s 133rd ranked passing offense — out of 136 teams — had just scored on a pass play.
And Iowa was just getting started.
After stopping the Trojans’ Miller on a fourth-down run around just inside Iowa territory — a terrible Riley call against the nation’s best fourth-down defense — the Hawkeyes drove 45 yards in nine plays to score on a Gronowski one-yard push to take a 14-0 lead.
The Trojans came back while finally finding their groove, driving 74 yards on 11 plays featuring a leaping catch by Ja’Kobi Lane and ending with a one-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation by Bryan Jackson.
So USC had the momentum? Not so fast.
USC defensive tackle Jide Abasiri holds up the ball while celebrating with cornerback Decarlos Nicholson during the second half of the Trojans’ win Saturday over Iowa.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Iowa took the possession and pounded and pounded and nine plays and 75 yards later scored on a five-yard, trick-play pass from receiver Reece Vander Zee to Gronowski.
That gave Iowa a 21-7 lead that was shortened only by a Ryon Sayeri 40-yard field goal after a dropped pass and penalty stopped the Trojans.
USC took the ball at the start of the third quarter and seemed to be destined for a touchdown after a leaping sideline catch by Lemon. But a holding call against Lane ruined a long run by Miller, two failed pass plays stalled the drive, and the Trojans had to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Sayeri to close the gap to 21-13.
After the Trojans defense stiffened, the offense went back on a roll, using another leaping grab by Lemon — this one for 35 yards — to set up a 12-yard TD pass between three defenders to Lemon. Maiava overthrew Lemon on the two-point conversion attempt, but this time, the Trojans didn’t blow the momentum.
On Iowa’s next possession, with 1:52 left in the period, the powerful freshman Stewart grabbed a deflected pass for an interception to give the Trojans the ball on the Iowa 40-yard line.
From there, Maiava drove them 40 yards in six plays on a possession that was assisted by a pass interference penalty and gave them an eventual 26-21 lead after Jackson’s one-yard touchdown run.
Diners fall silent as the haunting sound of the aulos – a double-piped wind instrument from ancient Greece – echoes through the vaulted breakfast room. The musician, Davide, wears a chiton (tunic), as do the guests; the mosaic floor, decorated vases and flicker of flames from the sconces add to the sense that we’ve stepped back in time.
This is Moyseion, a one-of-a-kind hotel-museum in the famous troglodyte city of Matera, in Basilicata, known for its sassi – cave dwellings carved into the limestone mountainside. Every detail has been carefully designed to transport visitors to Magna Graecia, as this area of southern Italy was known when it was ruled by the ancient Greeks from the 8th-6th century BC.
Dreamed up by owner Antonio Panetta, an artist and lawyer turned hotelier who grew up nearby, the idea was to create “an immersive experience of history – a living work of art, where archaeology, myth and hospitality combine”. Four years in the making, it opened fully this summer in a series of restored sassi close to the city centre.
Replicas of museum artefacts are on display, from urns to jewellery, while the handmade furniture copies designs seen on ancient pottery – three-legged tables, wall-mounted torches, vast wooden chests. Eight of the 16 stone dwellings are inspired by ancient Greece – high wooden beds, natural fabrics, cabinets with items depicting daily life of the era. They’re spacious, comfortable and remarkably calming (mod cons such as mirrors and hairdryers are carefully hidden from view). Other rooms reflect pre-Greek periods.
The lobby of hotel-museum Moyseion. Photograph: Adriano Fedele
In the basement, the Sanctuary of Waters is a multilevel spa dedicated to the goddess Demeter, evoking sacred sites of a lost world. It’s a moodily lit space with pools, statues of deities and stone basins based on Hellenistic thermal complexes. The floor mosaics are replicas of archaeological finds.
But what really makes this place special is the young in-house team of archaeologists, classicists, musicians, performers, costume designers and dancers that bring everything to life with a passion for history that they’re keen to share. Staff have worked with international specialists in everything from ancient music to choreography and cuisine to ensure an authentic experience – it took a year simply to master the circular breathing needed to play the aulos, Davide tells me. Guests become part of the action as they take part in daily rituals and symposiums. I’d worried it would feel like a theme park, but as I wander around in my chiton, a musician playing a specially created trigonon (small triangular harp), it somehow feels magical, not gimmicky.
Matera itself is layered with history. Believed to be the third oldest city in the world, after Aleppo in Syria and Jericho in Palestine’s West Bank, its location on the edge of a ravine adds to the drama. We arrive at night, a bright moon hanging above the rocky limestone landscape and maze of honey-coloured streets, like a timeless nativity scene. No wonder this place has had a starring role in countless films, from Mel Gibson’s controversial The Passion of the Christ and the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur (both times standing in for Jerusalem), to James Bond’s famous car chase through the old town in No Time to Die.
Davide, dressed in a chiton, plays the aulos, an ancient Greek wind instrument. Photograph: Caroline Gavazzi
We explore the sassi with guide Sandra, navigating the winding streets and piazzas, a jigsaw puzzle worthy of an Escher drawing. Divided into two ancient districts, Sasso Caveoso and Sasso Barisano, with the medieval Civita (old town) between, dwellings were both natural and human-made, partly dug into the rock and extended over millennia. Some were homes, some became part of the many monasteries and churches, incorporated into newer buildings that rose above them. Later, grand villas and palaces sprang up, such as Palazzo Viceconte (a Bond location), and Palazzo Malvinni Malvezzi, where Francis Ford Coppola is shooting his new film, Distant Vision, opposite the 13th-century romanesque cathedral.
By the 1950s, however, the city had been dubbed the “shame of Italy” due to the poverty and unsanitary living conditions in the sassi. A 1952 law declared them uninhabitable and more than 15,000 people were moved to new, modern quarters on the outskirts of town. The cave dwellings stood empty until the late 1980s, when people slowly started moving back to restore them as hotels and restaurants. Unesco world heritage status came in 1993 and it was a European capital of culture in 2019, putting the city firmly on the tourist map.
Breakfast at Moyseion. Photograph: Adriano Fedele
At every turn there is something new to gawp at. We visit the preserved cave house in Vico Solitario, which shows how life would have been when it was last inhabited in 1956 – mules and chickens living alongside the family, shelves and niches carved into the walls. We admire frescoes in churches excavated into rock – the Santa Maria de Idris and adjoining San Giovanni in Monterrone on a rocky spur with amazing views are among the most impressive.
I love Musma, a wonderful sprawling gallery space that’s part 16th-century palazzo, part ancient cave complex, dedicated to contemporary art and sculpture. We visit artists keeping traditional crafts alive, too, weaving cloth on looms and carving wooden bread stamps, once used to imprint the owner’s initials on huge durum wheat loaves before they were cooked in the communal ovens.
On a dine-with-locals experience we’re welcomed into the home of Marisa and Fernando and feast on endless plates of fried olives, bocconcini and artichoke, homemade pasta and fichi d’india (cactus fruit) as they share stories of Matera past and present. One afternoon we cross the suspension footbridge over the Gravina River to the other side of the gorge and climb to Murgia park, a vast wild rocky plateau pocked with hundreds of rupestrian churches (churches carved into rocks or cave walls). It’s the perfect vantage point to look back and watch the sunset paint the pale limestone town rose gold.
A musician plays a trigonon in Moyseion’s spa, based on a Hellenistic thermal complex. Photograph: Moyseion
But it’s time spent at Moyseion and the people we meet there that stick in my mind. The ritual held in the water sanctuary each day, where we follow performers playing the lyre and recreating mythical tales of gods and goddesses; the evening symposiums where wine, music, dance and conversation are shared, as they would have been in ancient Greece.
Even breakfast – akratisma – is an experience, the menu carefully researched and curated by food anthropologists and historians, and prepared by chef Vita. The table is laden with various breads and cheeses and cakes – melitoutta made with yoghurt, honey and cinnamon, plakous made of filo pastry with ricotta, figs and walnuts. There’s barley salad with pomegranate, spreads made of wild onion, mushrooms or olives, quails’ eggs and sausage. The hotel has also started hosting courses and residencies in ancient music and dance, the first focusing on the lyre, working with Lotos Lab, a research centre in Cambridge, and world-class scholars.
Matera has an important archaeological museum (closed for refurbishment during our visit), but few visitors to the city actually go, Panetta tells me. “People don’t want to just observe history and stare at things in a museum, they want to experience it in a real way,” he says. “When guests come here, they soon realise this is not Disney. The past is still alive in our souls – we want you to feel the past in the present, to make the past live again.”
The trip was provided by Moyseion. Rooms from €184 a night, including breakfast, rituals and symposium. Ferula Viaggi offers a range of tours in Matera, Basilicata and Puglia
Troy Parrott scores twice in first half to keep Ireland’s hopes of reaching next tournament alive with a famous victory.
Ireland have stunned Portugal 2-0 to keep their narrow path to next year’s World Cup open and make the Nations League winners wait to book an automatic spot on a night where their captain Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off.
Ireland, who have not qualified for a major tournament in a decade and last reached a World Cup in 2002, needed at least a draw on Thursday to keep their qualification hopes alive and a first half Troy Parrott double capped their best performance in years.
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They still need a win in Budapest on Sunday to claim a spot in next March’s playoffs after second-placed Hungary won 1-0 in Armenia. A draw at home to bottom-placed Armenia is likely the most Portugal need to secure automatic qualification.
But they will have to do it without Ronaldo, whose initial yellow card for lashing out with an elbow to the back of Ireland defender Dara O’Shea was upgraded after review to his first ever red card for Portugal in his 226th appearance.
Portugal, who were moments away from securing their seventh successive World Cup appearance a month ago before a stoppage-time Hungarian equaliser in Lisbon, fell behind on 17 minutes after Liam Scales headed a fizzed-in corner back across goal and Parrott could not miss.
Well worth the lead, Ireland went inches from doubling it when Chiedozie Ogbene struck the post with a fine effort before in-form AZ Alkmaar striker Parrott found the bottom corner with a brilliant finish from similar distance just before the break.
Ireland, who defended gallantly in the reverse fixture before going down to a late goal, did not require a repeat once Ronaldo received his marching orders on the hour, sarcastically clapping the delighted home fans as he departed.
Portugal, who are assured at least a playoff spot, are two points clear of Hungary at the top of Group F with a superior goal difference. The Irish are one point further back.
Parrott told RTE that it was “probably the best night” of his life.
“It is such a relief and overwhelming feeling to see the hard work paying off,” he said.
“We all knew how important this game was for us, especially given the other result tonight [Hungary beat Armenia]. I am just overwhelmed, I don’t know what words to give now. I am over the moon.”
Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson praised the backing of the fans and suggested they may have gotten to Ronaldo.
“I can only praise the supporters. We have amazing fans as always. They have a lot of say in this win, they give us energy and help us at crucial times. They deserve this win,” he said.
“[Ronaldo[ lost his focus a little bit. Maybe it was the fans as well that helped a little bit. He was frustrated and reacted in a way that he knows he shouldn’t.”
Ronaldo endures a frustrating evening against an excellent Ireland side [Paul Faith/AFP]
Elsewhere on Thursday, Two goals from star striker Kylian Mbappe helped send two-time champions France to the 2026 World Cup with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine.
Midfielder Michael Olise and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the other goals in a dominant second half from France, the World Cup runner-up in 2022.
Late goals from Gianluca Mancini and Francesco Pio Esposito helped Italy to a 2-0 win away against Moldova on Thursday, keeping alive their faint hopes of automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup with their fifth consecutive victory.
The result lifted Italy to 18 points, three behind group leaders Norway, who earlier beat Estonia 4-1, with the two sides meeting on the final qualifying matchday on Sunday. The Azzurri now face what looks an impossible task, needing to win and overturn Norway’s goal difference of 17.
England eased to a mundane 2-0 victory over Serbia with goals from Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze to make it seven wins from seven games in their World Cup qualifying campaign at a rain-soaked Wembley Stadium on Thursday.
Serbia put up more resistance than in the 5-0 home drubbing by England in September and Dusan Vlahovic twice went close to equalising but the defeat means his side can no longer finish in the top two and earn a playoff shot.
Albania will finish as runners-up and are guaranteed a playoff place after they beat Andorra 1-0 away.
De Minaur will be among those willing Alcaraz to victory after maintaining his interest in the season-ending competition despite opening with back-to-back defeats.
The 26-year-old was reluctant to trust the news that he would qualify with an Alcaraz win when he was initially informed in his post-match interview.
De Minaur had lost his past 16 matches against top 10 players, and each of the five matches he had previously played at the ATP Finals.
A painful defeat by Musetti on Tuesday, in which De Minaur held a 5-3 lead in the deciding set before losing four consecutive games to concede the match, had rocked his confidence.
But, against an opponent whom he had lost the two previous meetings, De Minaur reset mentally to produce an inspired display against Fritz.
“It means a lot. A couple of days ago I was in a pretty dark place,” De Minaur told Sky Sports.
“More than anything, I feel proud of my efforts. Not for just coming out and winning, but also the mindset. I made peace with what had happened and just committed.”
Speaking in his post-match interview, he said on court: “I’ve dealt with a fair bit of heartbreak recently.
“I’ve worked really hard, so it was good to get a positive reward for that.
“[The loss to Musetti] was a tough pill to swallow. I didn’t overthink today, I just went out and committed to what I needed to do. I continued to back myself and, whether it worked or it didn’t, I was going to leave it all out there today.”
Between deadlines, school runs and the constant “what’s for dinner?” chat, even the best relationships can start running on autopilot.
It doesn’t mean the spark has gone or that you’ve stopped loving your partner, but rather that life has got in the way.
Writer Nell Frizzell knows this all too well – after 10 years with her partner and two young children, she admits she doesn’t have as much time or energy for her husband as she once did.
“I know we’re told to focus on quality time, physical touch and gaze into each other’s eyes lovingly but actually I am shouting at my husband to turn the eggs off.”
Frizzell says she’s at a “crunch point” in her life.
Her time, body and attention are being pulled in every direction – she’s raising children, caring for elderly parents, running the home and working all at the same time.
“And within all of that, where do you have the time to look into someone’s eyes and say you’re wonderful?” she asks.
Bring other people in
But Frizzell has discovered something that helps keep her relationship connection alive – something she calls a “third energy”.
Not in the bedroom, she laughs, but at the dinner table.
“If we go away, we go with another family and if we go out to dinner, I love having friends there,” she explains.
It’s a surprisingly simple idea – but Frizzell says having dinner with another couple, friends or family really does work as the presence of other people naturally changes the dynamic.
She says sometimes a so-called date night “where you’re sat across the table with the person you live with and trying to come up with something new to say” can be intense, so another person can help provide a new conversation starter or a fresh perspective.
Frizzell says: “I find him incredibly attractive when we’re with people we don’t see all the time as they ask him questions I wouldn’t think to ask or tell him things I wouldn’t tell him.”
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Psychotherapist Susanna Abse says a little space and variety can be vital to a successful relationship.
“Couples can end up moving around each other but avoiding real contact,” she says.
Truly noticing your partner can make a big difference.
“Instead of coming downstairs in the morning and getting on with millions of chores, see what state your partner is in.”
Abse recommends asking them questions like how they are feeling or what their day looks like as “curiosity is key”.
Clinical psychologist Dr Amani Milligan says spending quality time together is also important.
That doesn’t mean a grand gesture and Dr Milligan says it can be as simple as taking a random Thursday off work together or setting rules like no phones before bed so you can catch up on each other’s days.
Relationships can come with endless distractions from emails and notifications on your phone to endless piles of laundry or dishes that need sorting.
Abse says electronic devices can make couples more distant.
“Protest if your partner is on their phone all the time and set some rules you can both agree to.”
Schedule sex
It’s near impossible to talk about keeping love alive without mentioning physical intimacy and Frizzell swears by scheduling it.
“It might feel administrative to say ‘this is when we’ll have sex’ but with small children, it’s absolutely key and it’s something to look forward to.”
Abse agrees with that practical approach and says if you’re not having sex “you have to recognise the risk in that” if you’re both not happy with the arrangement as “affairs often arise from unsatisfied needs”.
When we’re time poor or have a lot on, sex can be one of the first things to go but Abse says you should try to “allow yourself to be persuadable”.
“You don’t get into bed feeling very sexual but maybe with your partner’s attention that might change.”
Focusing more on each other and seeing her partner anew has improved Frizzell’s relationship.
The final lesson she has learnt is that it’s important to keep a little mystery from each other.
“Close the toilet door and have a bit of separation – by all means have a joint project but that shouldn’t be going to the loo,” she laughs.
On the lamp-lit steps of a sombre gothic church, a young woman stands before a microphone. Beside her, a man plucks a slow melody from his guitar. Arrayed on chairs and cobblestones in front of them, a large crowd sits in an expectant silence. From a nearby balcony, laundry sways in the sultry Calabrian breeze.
The guitar quickens, and the woman issues a string of tremulous notes with all the solemnity of a muezzin. She clutches a hand drum, beating out a rhythm that draws the crowd to its feet. As people surge forward, stamping and whirling around the square, the singing intensifies and the drum’s relentless thud deepens. The festival of Sustarìa has begun.
“Sustarìa is a word in the dialect of Lago,” says Cristina Muto, who co-founded the festival in summer 2020. “It is a creative restlessness, which doesn’t let you sit still.” We’re speaking at a drinks party the evening before the annual event, on a terrace overlooking Lago’s clay-tiled roofs, when her brother Daniele appears with a jug of local wine in hand. “Welcome to Lagos Angeles, Calabrifornia,” he winks, pouring me a cup.
‘Creative restlessness’ … The festival of Sustarìa, in Lago.
Lago is a hilltop village in the province of Cosenza, overlooking the Mediterranean. It’s surrounded by sprawling olive groves and small plots where families cultivate figs, chestnuts and local grains. Cristina and Daniele were born and raised in this grey-stoned hamlet, a medieval outpost of the Kingdom of the Lombards. Although their pride in Lago is palpable, few of the Laghitani I meet live here all year round. Like many young people from southern Italy, they have left in search of opportunities that are scarce in Calabria.
It’s against this backdrop that Cristina co-founded Sustarìa. “The trend is longstanding and severe,” she tells me, “but people still live here, and there are communities that thrive despite the problems. If more people stay or return, things will get better.” By spotlighting the allure of the region’s heritage, she hopes to play a part in this.
With agriculture historically shaping Calabria’s economy and its inhabitants’ daily lives, many traditions have agrarian roots. The dance that erupted on the festival’s first night was the tarantella. It features distinctive footwork, with dancers kicking their heels rapidly. “It’s a dance of the field workers,” Cristina says. “Some say it began as a way to sweat out venom from spider bites during harvests; others say tired workers in need of a creative outlet danced slowly and just with their feet, and over time the pace and range of movement increased.”
Olive groves at Agriturismo Cupiglione which offers guest rooms close to Lago
The vocals on display that night told of another aspect of the region’s history: its frequent colonisation. Calabria was variously conquered by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Arabs, Lombards and Bourbons. The folk songs we heard were replete with Greek scales and Arabic cadences, a melting pot of Mediterranean timbres.
After the concert, the crowd migrated to a field by a small waterfall on the outskirts of Lago for dinner featuring regional dishes: rosamarina (the pescatarian version of nduja, known as “Calabrian caviar” made from tiny fish); fried courgette flowers; cipolla rossa di Tropea (red onions from the popular beachtown of Tropea); and pecorino crotonese, a sheep’s cheese from the Crotone province.
Over dinner I spoke with two other festival organisers, Claudia and her husband Alberto. Claudia, a Lago native, returned permanently, after a career in aerospace engineering, to run the B&B Agriturismo Cupiglione with Alberto. Nestled in woodland a few kilometres from Lago, Cupiglione was founded 25 years ago by Claudia’s parents as a restaurant with guest rooms. After closing during the pandemic, it was renovated and reopened in 2023 as a B&B with seven rooms for up to 18 guests (doubles from €40). The change in direction paid off, and Cupiglione has since welcomed hundreds of visitors to the area, evenly split between Italian and international travellers.
During my stay, I’m lodging in a house on the edge of Lago, thanks to the Sustarìa team. Hospitality runs deep during the festival; organisers open up their homes and those of their relatives to anyone who enquires through social media. Other options abound during the festival and year-round, including B&Bs such as Cupiglione and A Casa di Ely (doubles from €60), a short walk from where I stayed.
A musician playing the zampogna, an ancient form of bagpipes. Photograph: Valentina Procopio
The following afternoon, I return to the field before aperitivi, where I meet up with Cristina, who explains the growth of her initiative: “Initially, it was just locals who came to Sustarìa, but then people from other parts of Italy and even other countries started coming. Every year it grows.” This year, there are nearly 600 people in attendance.
Eric, a Londoner studying in Zurich, is one such international guest. Eric also attended Felici & Conflenti, a festival in late July hosted by friends of the Sustarìa team, which focuses on preserving and reviving the region’s ancient music. It has held 11 editions over as many years, each one featuring a winter and summer instalment, to which more people flock each year. It takes place in Conflenti, a small inland village nestled at the foot of the Reventino mountain, at the confluence of two small rivers (hence its name).
“Thanks to their work and research, instruments that were becoming extinct, like the zampogna [Italian bagpipe], are finding new life,” Cristina says.
The three of us sit chatting over plates of crisp taralli(wheat crackers)as twilight fades, and a reedy piping starts up from across the field. I stroll over, and catch sight of someone playing the zampogna, which looks like a set of bagpipes improvised from foraged materials, and is truly ancient – it counts the Roman emperor Nero among its historical admirers.
The next morning, we head to the hilltop town of Fiumefreddo Bruzio, a short drive from Lago and officially recognised as one of “Italy’s most beautiful villages”. Clinging to the western slopes of the Apennines, this medieval village offers panoramic views of the swelling coastline, which traces the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its narrow, meandering streets are lined with squat houses made of the local grey stone, quarried from the surrounding mountains. We wander around Il castello della Valle, a sprawling 13th-century Norman castle partly destroyed by Napoleonic troops, but retaining a splendid portale Rinascimentale – or Renaissance gate – still in excellent condition.
Castello della Valle in Fiumefreddo Bruzio, one of ‘Italy’s most beautiful villages’. Photograph: Yuriy Brykaylo/Alamy
At Palazzo Rossi, on the edge of town, we take a seat at a cafe and sip local craft beer as we admire the view of the active volcano Mount Stromboli, across the water.
“You should see it in the winter,” Cristina says. “The air is cooler, so it becomes even clearer. Everything here is completely different in the winter, but most people don’t see it as visitors come mainly in the summer,” she adds with a note of regret.
The sun starts to sink into the horizon. In the square, a band starts setting up for an evening gig. A waiter brings over a plate of bread and olives to our table, on the house. “Things are quieter but not empty. There are almost as many events as in summer. And you get to see how the locals live during the rest of the year.” Cristina tears off a piece of bread. “And, of course, the hospitality never changes – people are always welcomed with open arms.”
Sustarìa will return to Lago for its sixth instalment on 1-3 August 2026. There is a winter edition of Felici & Conflenti in Calabria on 27-29 December 2025; its next summer instalment is in July 2026
