Bio and Geodiversity Festival

A festival that tells the story of the Tiber's nature

The Bio and Geodiversity Festival is the most anticipated spring event in Nazzano, a small town in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, perched on a ridge overlooking a bend in the Tiber. Curated by the Museo del Fiume, the festival was born with a clear ambition: to help people understand, touch, and observe the natural wealth of a territory that hosts the Nazzano Tevere-Farfa Regional Nature Reserve, the first protected area established in Lazio and one of the most important wetlands in central Italy.

Bio and geodiversity: two words, one story

The festival's title is no coincidence. Alongside biodiversity—insects, water birds, amphibians, wild plants, spiders, river fish—the program also highlights geodiversity, meaning the rocks, soils, fossils, and landscape forms that explain why this stretch of the Tiber valley has become what it is today. Each edition chooses a central theme: over the years, there have been deep dives into the world of insects, parasites, predator-prey relationships, and the 2025 theme, Observing and touching Nature firsthand.

What to expect during the day

• Interactive workshops in the halls of the Museo del Fiume, designed especially for children and teenagers: microscopes, casts, species identification, and water experiments.
• Conferences and meetings with researchers, zoologists, entomologists, and naturalists, presented in an accessible, popular style.
• Temporary exhibitions, often photographic, dedicated to the fauna and landscapes of the reserve.
• Nature stands and educational stations set up in Piazza della Rocca, at the foot of the castle.
• Sapori e Saperi Market, featuring local crafts and organic products along the village streets.
• Electric boat excursions on the Tiber within the reserve, and birdwatching outings.
• Scientific tea and aperitifs, convivial moments to continue discussing nature over a table.

Science and gastronomy on the same day

One of the most charming features of the festival is how it intertwines with the village's gastronomic feast. During the April 25th editions, the village simultaneously hosts the Wild Boar Pappardelle Festival organized by the Nazzano Pro Loco, while the late March 2025 edition featured a gnocchi festival. The result is a day where you can seamlessly transition from an insect workshop to a plate of pappardelle in the square, or from a conference on birdlife to a local cheese stall. It is a formula that works: it brings scientific outreach to those who might never have entered a natural history museum.

A village worth the trip

Nazzano has just over 1,300 inhabitants and retains a compact medieval layout, dominated by Castello Savelli. From the square, the view opens up over the bend of the Tiber and the reed beds of the reserve, where herons, coots, grebes, and, during migration periods, dozens of migratory species nest. The Museo del Fiume, active since 2002, serves as the reserve's visitor center and offers educational activities year-round, but it is during the festival that it truly opens its doors to a wider public.

Why visit

The Bio and Geodiversity Festival is not a mass-market event, and that is precisely its strength: you can speak directly with researchers, workshops are held in small groups, and children can handle specimens and tools. For a Roman family looking for a spring day trip, or for a nature enthusiast wanting to discover a reserve still untouched by mass tourism, it is one of the most successful days on the Lazio calendar.