Cerealia - The Cereal Festival

A festival that brings grain back to the heart of Rome

Cerealia - The Cereal Festival is an international itinerant festival created in 2011 and promoted by the Cultural Association Music Theatre International - M.Th.I. ETS, under the artistic direction of Paola Sarcina. Its subtitle, Ceres and the Mediterranean, says it all: grain and other cereals are not just food, but the thread that connects the shores of the Mediterranean, their agriculture, their cuisines, and their myths. The Municipality of Rome is the historic home of the festival, which finds its most ancient roots here: the celebration is deeply linked to the rites of the Cerialia and the Ludi dedicated to the goddess Ceres, as well as the celebrations of the Vestal Virgins on June 9th.

Rome and Lazio, the heart of the project

In the Lazio Region and the Metropolitan City of Rome, the festival takes the form of a widespread event: appointments are distributed between the Circus Maximus, archaeological sites and museums in the historic center, libraries, urban gardens, and farms in the hinterland. There is no single stage, but an itinerary that invites you to rediscover the city through the eyes of those seeking traces of bread and grain in Roman history. Over the years, the program has expanded far beyond Lazio, reaching Puglia, Sicily, Lombardy, Umbria, Piedmont, and other Italian regions, with international partners changing with each edition.

What to expect in the program

• Guided tours and archaeological walks in places linked to the cults of Ceres and the Roman annona;
• Tastings of sustainable and local products, ancient grains, traditional breads, pastas, and Mediterranean sweets;
• Show cooking and markets with producers, bakers, and quality agriculture experts;
• Conferences and meetings on sustainable nutrition, agricultural landscape, rural innovation, and the role of women in agriculture;
• Workshops for children and families dedicated to flour, bread-making, and biodiversity;
• Artistic performances, exhibitions, and re-enactments of the rites of the Vestal Virgins and the Ludi of Ceres.

A guest country every year

One of the distinctive features of Cerealia is the choice, each year, of a guest country or region from the Mediterranean basin: a way to compare different cereal traditions and build real cultural cooperation. After a 2025 edition dedicated to cooperation with Mediterranean Africa and the Middle East - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Jordan -, the 2026 edition looks to Catalonia, a Spanish region with a strong agri-food identity.

Why it is worth it

Cerealia is not a typical local food fair, and it is good to know this before you go: it is a cultural festival with an interdisciplinary vocation, where tasting is always accompanied by content - a conference, a visit, a workshop. It is therefore a precious opportunity for those visiting Rome in autumn who are looking for more than just a postcard: you eat well, but above all, you understand where what you eat comes from. Most activities are free to enter, often with mandatory booking given the limited capacity of the archaeological sites and museums involved.

Institutional recognition

The quality of the project has also been recognized at a national level: for the festival's fifteen years, the Presidency of the Republic granted a dedicated medal, a sign of the cultural value attributed to an initiative that unites archaeological heritage, food sustainability, and Mediterranean dialogue.