Blue Fish and Pinzino Festival

A Festival with a Heart of Solidarity

The Blue Fish and Pinzino Festival is one of the most beloved food and wine events of the Ferrara spring. It takes place at the Rivana Garden Center, located at Via Gaetano Pesci 181, in the Municipality of Ferrara, the capital of the province of the same name in Emilia-Romagna. The event is conceived and managed by the association Nati con la Calzamaglia, in collaboration with the Rivana Garden Social Promotion Center and with the patronage of the Municipality of Ferrara.

What makes this festival special is not just the food, but above all the spirit that animates it: the entire proceeds are dedicated to funding social and solidarity projects carried out in the Ferrara area. In past editions, the association has contributed to the purchase of equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and defibrillators as part of the "Ferrara Cardioprotected City" project, which has already equipped the city with over thirty life-saving devices.

The Star: Ferrara's Pinzino

Pinzino (or fried pinza) is one of the symbols of Ferrara's humble cuisine: a dough of flour, water, and lard, fried until golden and crispy, to be enjoyed hot with cured meats and cheeses. At Rivana, the pinzino champions an entire tradition, accompanied by the bolder flavors of blue fish from the Adriatic.

Flavors of the Sea and Tradition

The festival menu offers a wide selection of dishes that combine land and sea:

• Cold and hot appetizers, with the unmissable mussels
• Grilled sardines and fried sardines and calamari
• Bigoli allo scoglio and cappelletti
• Cuttlefish and peas, braised beef with peas
• Grilled eel, a symbolic dish of the Po Delta region
• Platters of cured meats and cheeses, and homemade desserts

When and How

The event takes place over several weekends in May. On Fridays and Saturdays, dinner service is available, with the kitchen opening at 7:00 PM; on Sundays, lunch is served starting at 12:00 PM. Takeaway service is always available during the same hours. Given the turnout, table reservations are highly recommended.