One of the most spectacular celebrations of a feast day in Italia is the infiorate of Spello for the holiday of Corpus Domini. Spello is itself a gorgeously romantic Umbrian hill town one train stop south of the infinitely more famous Assisi (thanks, St. Francis!), and the narrow, winding, cobbled streets come alive with wildflowers for not even 24 hours for the holiday.
The notion of an infiorata (translated generally as a "flower carpet" or "flower tapestry," essentially a collage on the ground composed of cut flower petals and greenery) isn't an uncommon way to celebrate this particular feast, but the Spellani craft the most exquisite pieces of art from local wild plants, all carefully tended to produce vivid scenes.
The process begins the night before the holiday with hundreds of locals clustered tightly in narrow porches separating flowers, cutting petals, and laying out their designs on prepared templates. The scenes can be religious tableaus, intricate patterns, or the always charming junior groups done by local children and teens.
After hours of careful presentation, the infiorate are completed, and locals and visitors alike follow a twisting course through the city to admire the works.
Of course, fresh flower petals don't do well in the heat of the Central Italian sun, so the infiorate are kept under tents during construction and periodically watered to keep them from drying out too much.
The holiday ends with a parade led by the priest walking through the murals (which I can never bear to watch!) and awarding of prizes to the muralists. Then the town, exhausted from the late night and hours upon hours of work, retires to a lazy Sunday afternoon and night.