PHOTOS: A Second Serving of Crucolo Day in Concord

It’s no secret that Concord loves a parade. Everybody knows about the history-rich suburb's Patriots’ Day celebrations, but this town also parades on Earth Day and sometimes on its birthday.

Delivery Day even gets a turn once in a while. Yes, really.

It’s happened three times now. It’s called “Crucolo Day.” And it’s the cheesiest thing ever.

The brainchild of Cheese Shop owner Peter Lovis, “Crucolo Day” features a cheese parade down Waltham Street to celebrate the delivery of a wheel of Crucolo cheese, which at 400-pounds is reportedly the largest wheel in the Western Hemisphere.

“Well, they make a 400-pound wheel of cheese, and who can resist buying a 400-pound wheel of cheese,” said Lovis. “It’s a big cheese.”

“Crucolo Day” debuted three years ago, and the third time truly was the charm.

The latest and greatest edition was , but the story actually begins in the spring, when Lovis traveled to northern Italy and actually participated in the making of the big cheese he’d later parade to his shop. 

“In May, I helped produce this,” said Lovis, posing for pictures next to a tower of cut Crucolo. “I helped stir the curd, and milk the cows and produce this cheese when I was in Italy.”

Also produced during that trip are tales of 30-course meals and “early morning boogies” four miles up a single-lane path to the cows grazing toward the top of the mountainside, but we’ll leave those for Lovis to share.

A single-producer artisanal cheese made at the Rifugio Crucolo in Trentino, Italy, Crucolo is a cow’s milk cheese that’s a little on the soft side and starts mild by has an “interesting” finish with a little tang, according to Lovis.

The 400-pound wheel cost Concord Cheese Shop about $8,000, and the store will sell it for $19.99 per pound. After giving away a few dozen pounds as samples after the parade, the Cheese Shop crew expects to sell the remainder of the wheel in two weeks time.