Casacocò Rose Festival

A rose garden with six hundred varieties at the gates of Lake Bracciano

The Casacocò Rose Festival is one of the most characteristic spring events in the municipality of Manziana, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region. It takes place at the Casacocò estate on Via Fonte del Gatto, a country house immersed in a park of about seven hectares populated by ancient oaks and olive trees, where the owners have built up a collection of about six hundred roses over the years.

The date is not chosen at random: the festival falls in the second half of May, when the rose garden reaches the peak of its flowering and the fragrance spreads throughout the park. It is the moment when the collection is best appreciated, among antique roses and contemporary cultivars.

The rose garden and its collections

The Casacocò garden is not just an ornament: it gathers landscape roses, collector's roses, cut roses, and climbing varieties, with specimens belonging to about three hundred and fifty different species. Among the groups represented, one can recognize Tea roses, Noisette roses, Rosa mosqueta, and Rugosa roses, some of ancient origin. In past editions, visits have been accompanied by Antonello Santelli, an instructor from the municipal rose garden of Rome, who guided visitors through the flowerbeds, recounting the history, habit, and cultivation of the different varieties.

How the day unfolds

The festival is designed as a long, relaxed day, from morning until sunset. The program alternates between moments of visiting and moments of pure leisure:

• Rose garden tours and walks through the estate, with excursions in the surrounding greenery
• Live music: the Manziana marching band in the morning, dixie jazz bands in the outdoor lounges, and folk music in the afternoon
• Tango performances and other shows distributed throughout the park
• Floral-themed art exhibition and stalls with hand-printed fabrics
• Markets with handicrafts and small-scale plant sales, particularly roses and hydrangeas
• Tastings and gastronomic offerings with products from local farms
• Activities for children, games in the park, and botanical treasure hunts

Dining under the trees

One of the most recognizable features of the event is the possibility of having lunch outdoors, under the canopy of the park. In recent editions, the organizers have offered a buffet lunch by reservation alongside casual refreshment points, with snacks and aperitifs prepared with artisanal and local products: oil, cheeses, wines, and preserves from farms in the area.

Manziana and the surrounding area

Manziana is located northwest of Rome, in the triangle that connects Lake Bracciano to the Tolfa Mountains. The town is best known for the Macchia Grande, an ancient forest of Turkey oaks that borders the town and is now an asset of the Agrarian University. The Rose Festival naturally fits into this identity made of woods, thermal waters, and cultivated countryside, and is included every year by the Municipality among the traditional spring events of Manziana, alongside the Antique Market.

Who is it recommended for?

It is a festival suitable for everyone: gardening enthusiasts, who come to see up close a collection of roses difficult to find in Lazio; families, thanks to the green spaces and activities dedicated to children; and those simply looking for a quiet Sunday out of Rome, just over an hour from the capital. The entrance fee is affordable, and the relaxation areas with garden seating invite you to stay all day.