Autumn Festival with the Maxitorta

A cake as long as the square

The Autumn Festival with the Maxitorta has been the signature event for the town of Fontechiari, in the Comino Valley, for over twenty years. The concept is as simple as it is spectacular: to build, right in front of the public, a dessert that occupies almost the entire Piazza G. Marconi. The Maxitorta exceeds twenty-five meters in length and can reach up to thirty, providing around two thousand portions for those in attendance. It is not a pre-packaged cake brought from elsewhere; it is assembled and decorated on-site, layer by layer, while the public watches the preparation.

Preparation as a spectacle

The most anticipated moment is the assembly, which begins in the early afternoon. Master pastry chefs work at a very long table set up along the square, spreading the bases, filling them, and decorating them in front of hundreds of people who follow every step. In past editions, the creation was signed by the Pasticceria Siciliana of master Giovanni Saiola; in more recent years, it has been entrusted to Pasticceria Fallena. Once the cake is complete, the cutting marks the official start of the festivities, and it is distributed for free until it runs out.

The flavors of the Ciociaria autumn

Alongside the Maxitorta, the festival showcases the autumn pantry of the Ciociaria region. Along the streets of the center, you will find:

• Roasted chestnuts cooked on the spot, the symbol of the season;
• Crespelle prepared according to the traditional recipe, known to locals as Nonna Giuliana's crespelle;
• Local wine from the Comino Valley, served as an accompaniment;
• Legume soups and rustic dishes from peasant cuisine;
• Stalls featuring typical products and handicrafts set up by local producers.

Folk music and culture

The soundtrack for the day is provided by the folk music of southern Lazio: recent editions have featured groups such as Saltapizzica and I Trillanti, with accordions, tambourines, and square dances that involve the public. However, the festival goes beyond food and music. The Pro Loco organizes guided tours of the historic center and opens exhibition spaces: in recent years, these have included an exhibition dedicated to brigandage—a theme with deep local roots, as the brigand Chiavone raided Fontechiari in May 1862—and the exhibition "Gli emigrati siamo noi" (We are the emigrants) at Palazzo Agostini, dedicated to Fontechiari's emigration history. The Conference Hall has also hosted the inlay works of master Paolo Capobianco.

Fontechiari, a village to discover

The town was once called Schiavi and already appears in donation documents to the Abbey of Montecassino; its current name, adopted after the Unification of Italy, recalls the clarity of its springs, specifically the Fons Clara fountain. The village retains a medieval layout with the square Boncompagni tower, two churches with 14th-century frescoes, and a rare hermitage carved into the rock dedicated to Saint Onuphrius. The early 19th-century Napoleonic cemetery is also worth a visit, considered the only application in Italy of the 1804 decree that mandated cemeteries be located outside inhabited centers. The autumn festival is therefore the perfect opportunity to visit a village that, for the rest of the year, remains pleasantly off the beaten path.

Who organizes it

The event is promoted by the Pro Loco Fontechiari APS in collaboration with the municipal administration and with the support of the Lazio Region. It is an entirely free event, built on the work of volunteers, which brings a crowd far larger than the town's population to this small center in the Comino Valley every October.