Festivals of Lazio and Rome

In April, the Matticella Artichoke Festival in Velletri uses the matticelle, the long vine shoots that are kept and left to dry after the vines have been pruned, to fuel the fires for cooking artichokes, which are served to everyone who passes by.

Summer festivals in Lazio include the Laina e Fasuri Festival in Sant’Ambrogio sul Garigliano - only in Italy would a simple dish of home-made pasta served with beans qualify for its own festival. It is eaten by everyone in the town at this time of year. Another local speciality is enjoyed at the Marzoline Festival in Esperia in August, which celebrates a goat’s milk cheese made in the mountains of the Monti Aurinci Natural Park. Tradition demands that it is left to mature for a few days on wooden racks and then aged for several months in glass jars.