{"id":43524,"date":"2026-05-28T09:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discoverpistoia.it\/happy-birthday-lie\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:35:42","slug":"happy-birthday-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverpistoia.it\/en\/happy-birthday-lie\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy birthday, Lie!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

And that makes fifty: the Championship of Lies<\/strong> celebrates its silver wedding. In reality, the year was 1966, so sixty years have passed since the then “sweet polenda” festival underwent what we might call an extraordinary genetic mutation to give birth to the first edition of the Italian Lie Championship.Since then, with a couple of short breaks, 49 editions<\/strong> have followed. And the one that will take place on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd August<\/strong> in the shadow of the bell tower of S. Ilario in the main square (the only one) of Le Piastre, the village of liars nestled 750 metres above sea level at the foot of the Pistoia Mountains, is precisely the fiftieth edition, the one that will seal the golden wedding of the village of liars with his majesty the Lie.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
overviews of the public in the church square<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Strictly written with a capital letter. Born from the will and creativity of Giancarlo Corsini, known as \u201cGianco,\u201d its late founder and winner of the first edition, the Championship was truly a wonderful invention that grew over the years until it achieved worldwide fame. And to think that it all began in this small town, which today has no more than 90 inhabitants, yet displays truly remarkable vitality and inventiveness.The Championship has its roots in the very history of the town and comes directly from the culture of the metati, small workshops where chestnuts were dried to extract their golden gold, the flour capable of transforming them into castagnacci, necci, frittelle, and every other delicacy that, in the 18th century, conquered the palate of the Grand Duke of Tuscany when he once visited the town. The people of Piazze would gather in the evening around a lit log that served to create enough heat to dry the chestnuts without cooking them. It was a way to stay warm and socialize, in times before television and little use of the radio.This is how the stories told by Pietrone and the other storytellers from the metato unfolded, joined by Benvenuto Corsini, known as “Il Monti,” a street storyteller and one of the town’s most distinctive characters.A skilled storyteller, as well as a great liar. His was a true art, that of proposing an \u201caugmented reality\u201d in which well-known historical episodes took the form of stories so unlikely that in the end they seemed true. Thus began his travels to the remote islands off the coast of Madagascar, his encounters with the beautiful islanders and his friendship with them, until, a few months after his return to Le Piastre, Monti reported receiving several dozen birth certificates, all with his surname, Corsini, precisely. Yes, because at Le Piastre you can be called either Corsini or Begliomini.There’s no escape.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
A photo from 1969 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

And then what about the secrets of the hero of two worlds, Peppino Garibaldi, and his companion Anita?The narrator was Pietrone, a narrator of things that couldn’t be found in history books, but so believable that they could be called the proto-lies from which it all began. In short, they were the ancestors of the lies that every year the approximately 25 contestants who compete for the title of biggest liar in Italy recite on the stage in Piazza della Chiesa.It is the first, historic and most famous of the five sections into which the Championship is divided, the verbal one. But it is accompanied by two graphic design sections, one reserved for Italian cartoonists and one international,which now attracts nearly 300 cartoonists every year, submitting their cartoons from countries across all five continents. Then there is the literary section, 1,800 keystrokes that serve to be judged by the multiple Strega Prize winner Sandro Veronesi and proclaimed the most lying writers in Italy. In recent years, a radio section has also been introduced, where listeners of Radio Toscana, which has been the Championship’s media partner for years, proclaim the biggest liar on the radio. Last, but certainly not least, is the Child Lie section, reserved for contestants under 14, who are among the most endearing and often surprising storytellers.Some examples of Lies? Certain. But not before specifying that the Piazzese Lies are \u201cgood\u201d. That there’s no malice or malice in them, much less deception.Rather, they rely on imagination, on seeing things from an original perspective, on surprise and wit. Having said all this, here is a short sequence of lies, starting with the one with which Giancarlo Corsini won the first championship, saying that he had hung a sack of sweet flour on a nail to protect it from mice, and that thieves had entered during the night but had only stolen the sack, leaving all the flour attached to the nail.It is the same Gianco, whose memory the people of Pistoia wanted to pay homage to by dedicating a bronze statue to him, placed right in front of his house, on his favorite bench.<\/p>\n\n

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David Pratelli performing in 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

And it is right in front of the plaque that he himself wanted to place on the facade of his house where many tourists read (and some even believe it) that in 1966 the water of the Arno following the flood reached that height, that is, 750 meters above sea level. And what about the mushroom found in the woods of Le Piastre, so big, so big, that the photo alone weighed 5 kilos. All stories are peppered with irony and driven by the desire tospend time with others.These are the same principles that, in 2011, gave birth to the Accademia della Bugia de Le Piastre, the association that organizes the event and many other initiatives.In 2021, the academics purchased the former Cinema Italia to transform it into the future “Spazio Bugia,” which will house the Museum of Lies, retain a theater stage and movie screen, a multipurpose hall, and a restaurant. A true gesture of love for Le Piastre and the Pistoia Mountains.In the brand-new Spazio Bugia, just like at the Italian Lie Championship, there will be plenty of fun.<\/p>\n\n

In short, you will see some beautiful things.<\/p>\n\n

Or bullshit.<\/p>\n\n

Text by Tiziano Carradori<\/p>\n\n

Photo by Academy of Lies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And that makes fifty: the Championship of Lies celebrates its silver wedding. In reality, the year was 1966, so sixty years have passed since the then “sweet polenda” festival underwent what we might call an extraordinary genetic mutation to give birth to the first edition of the Italian Lie Championship.Since then, with a couple of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":43395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8709,8708,8706],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43524","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art-naturart","8":"category-history-naturart","9":"category-naturart"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHappy birthday, Lie! - Discoverpistoia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The event born in Le Piastre celebrates its fiftieth edition and sixtieth anniversary. 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