What people call “streets turning red” is usually a memory trick. The town is Castelluccio di Norcia, a tiny place in central Italy that sits above a wide natural plain. In late spring and early summer, the plain below it bursts into colour. From far away, those bands of colour can look like the town itself has turned red, especially when red poppies dominate one section.
The main reason is farming. Castelluccio is famous for lentils, and the fields are planted in large patches. When the lentils grow, wildflowers also thrive around them, helped by the open landscape, sunlight, and seasonal moisture. Poppies, cornflowers, daisies and other blooms appear in waves. Because fields are rectangular and planted in blocks, the colours show up as neat stripes, like someone painted the valley with a giant brush.
This is also why the colours change week by week. One patch may look red first, another may turn yellow or white later, and some areas fade sooner depending on heat, rain, and how the plants mature. People often call this flowering period “La Fiorita”, and it has become one of Italy’s most photographed seasonal scenes.