Bar Tour Food and Wine Festival

A food and wine journey through the streets of Zagarolo

The Bar Tour Food and Wine Festival is one of the most anticipated events of the summer in Zagarolo, a village in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital nestled in the Prenestini Hills. The concept is as simple as it is successful: for one night, the town's bars, cellars, and venues become stops on a tasting tour, each representing an Italian region by serving its wines paired with local specialties. Born from the initiative of ZACA, the association representing Zagarolo's merchants, artisans, and businesses, the event has grown edition after edition to become a staple of the summer calendar promoted by the Municipality.

How the tour works

The ticket grants access to tastings at every stop on the tour, which winds through Via Valle del Formale, Viale Ungheria, and the historic center. In recent editions, there have been about a dozen stops—eleven in 2024 and 2025—and a shuttle train has been provided to move comfortably from one end of the town to the other. At each venue, you receive a glass of wine from the featured region and a sample of its cuisine: the event runs from 6:00 PM until midnight, allowing you to piece together a true Italian tour of taste, stop by stop.

Italy's regions in a glass

The food and wine twinning formula is the heart of the event. Over the years, Zagarolo's venues have showcased specialties from Lazio, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo, Sardinia, Calabria, Campania, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Apulia, and Sicily: from the white wines of the Castelli to the reds of the south, each pairing is designed to help you discover a different corner of the country. Alongside the town's historic venues, local farms and wineries also participate, confirming the viticultural vocation of this area of Lazio, a land of table grapes and vineyards since the days of the famous Zagarolo Grape Festival.

Music and street performers

The Bar Tour is more than just a tasting: along the route, the stops are enlivened by live music and street performers, transforming the evening into a small, widespread 'White Night'. The atmosphere is that of a contemporary village festival, where you can stroll among friends from one venue to another, stop to listen to a concert, and head off toward the next glass.

Part of «Un'Estate da Sogno»

The event is part of the Municipality of Zagarolo's summer program, «Un'Estate da Sogno» (A Dream Summer), created in collaboration with the Palazzo Rospigliosi Institution, the Pro Loco, and local associations. Between July and September, the program complements the Bar Tour with a theater season in the hanging garden of Palazzo Rospigliosi, the White Night, the Tondo Jazz Festival, and traditional celebrations. For ZACA and the municipal administration, the tour is also a way to support local neighborhood businesses and the economy of the historic center.

Zagarolo, a village of taste

Participating in the Bar Tour is the perfect opportunity to discover Zagarolo, with its historic center stretching along a tuff spur, its noble palaces, the Toy Museum housed in Palazzo Rospigliosi, and a food and wine tradition that culminates in autumn with the historic Grape Festival. Less than forty kilometers from Rome, it is one of the most authentic destinations for those seeking the 'good life' in the Lazio countryside.