Cetara Anchovy Colatura Festival (Ezio Falcone Award)

The condiment that made Cetara famous

The PDO Anchovy Colatura of Cetara is an amber-colored liquid with an intensely savory flavor, a direct descendant of the ancient Roman garum. It is made from anchovies (Engraulis encrasicolus) caught within twelve miles of the Salerno coast between late March and mid-July. The fish are beheaded and gutted by hand immediately after being caught, then layered with coarse sea salt inside terzigni, the traditional wooden barrels. During the long maturation process, the liquid collects at the bottom and is finally extracted through tapping, a process that traditionally takes place in December. Since October 2020, the colatura has been protected by the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status, the first fishery product in Campania to receive this recognition.

A festival born in 2006

The Municipality of Cetara, a small fishing village nestled between Vietri sul Mare and Maiori in the province of Salerno, launched the event «Rediscovering Ancient Flavors – Anchovy Colatura Festival» in 2006. The event traditionally takes place in the first half of December, coinciding with the tapping of the new colatura, and has grown over the years into an event that intertwines culture, the maritime economy, and cuisine.

• Academic conferences on the history of Cetara and the entire Amalfi Coast;
• Round tables on issues related to fishing, production, and the marketing of quality artisanal products;
• Presentations of dishes and new recipes based on colatura by chefs from Cetara and the province of Salerno;
• Tastings in the most characteristic squares of the village;
• Special colatura-based menus in local restaurants throughout the festival.

The Ezio Falcone Award

Since 2012, the festival has been accompanied by a culinary award named after Ezio Falcone, a scholar of ancient Amalfitan gastronomy and a true archaeologist of taste. The award is a contest open to food bloggers, journalists, and amateur cooks who compete in the kitchen with their own original recipes centered around the colatura. It is promoted by the Associazione Amici delle Alici and the association for the Valorization of the PDO Anchovy Colatura of Cetara, two organizations that have been working for decades to protect the product.

The 2026 edition: «The PDO drop, the essence in a dish»

The 2026 edition of the award took place on January 31, 2026, at the Amalpheat cooking school in Baronissi (SA), under the patronage of the Municipality of Cetara. While the venue was outside the coastal village, the spirit remained the same. It was the first edition created entirely with PDO Anchovy Colatura of Cetara, supplied by producers Iasa and Nettuno. Six pre-selected contestants competed on the theme «The PDO drop, the essence in a dish» before a panel of experts.

December in Cetara: «Calice» and the Blue Nights

In recent years, the colatura tastings in the village have been integrated into the winter calendar «Le Notti Azzurre Winter Edition», which accompanies the village through the colder months. In December 2025, the «Calice» event returned on December 5 and 19 at the Museo Cantina of the Viceregal Tower, featuring informal masterclasses dedicated to the dialogue between colatura and local wines, in collaboration with Ambientarti and Grapee. Those planning a winter trip to the Amalfi Coast will find a calendar that combines tapping, tastings, folk music, and workshops.

Why it is worth the trip

Cetara is not just another postcard-perfect destination; it is one of the few villages in Campania where fishing is still a living trade and where the relationship between the community and the sea is visible in daily life. Tasting spaghetti seasoned with colatura here—a dish traditionally linked to the year-end holidays—means understanding why a niche condiment has become a symbol of the culinary identity of the Amalfi Coast and the Campania Region. The festival, with its conferences and tastings, is the moment when this story is shared with the public.