Cheese Festival

A festival dedicated to the cheeses of Ciociaria

Every year, on the third Saturday of July, San Vittore del Lazio—a village of about 2,500 inhabitants at the southeastern tip of the Frosinone province, where Lazio meets Campania and Molise—dedicates a popular festival to the cheeses of its territory. The Cheese Festival is listed by the official Ciociaria tourism portal as a fixed event in the San Vittore calendar, alongside the "tagliariegli e fagioli" festival held on the first Saturday of the same month: two summer evenings that capture the rural and pastoral soul of this corner of southern Lazio.

The Conciato di San Vittore, a pecorino cheese with Samnite roots

The town's signature product is the Conciato di San Vittore, a hard-paste pecorino whose origins, according to the Slow Food Foundation which has included it in the Ark of Taste, date back to the Samnites. The small wheels, made from the milk of Sopravvissana, Camosciata, and Massese sheep taken to high-altitude pastures between 1,200 and 1,400 meters, are "cured" in the rind with about fifteen hand-picked aromatic and medicinal herbs: chamomile, thyme, bay leaf, juniper, sage, rosemary, wild fennel, anise, garlic, pepper, and coriander. The result is a cheese with a white, soft, and crumbly paste, featuring floral and herbaceous notes reminiscent of the pastures. It is recognized as a Traditional Agri-food Product (PAT) of the Lazio Region and is currently produced in the municipalities of San Vittore del Lazio and Picinisco.

The village celebration

The festival brings this dairy heritage to the town square: alongside the Conciato, the local dairy repertoire includes fresh ricotta, cited among the typical San Vittore products together with the local-style tripe (trippetta alla sanvittorese), a specialty of the town's cuisine. The evening follows the convivial format of Ciociaria festivals, with tastings and celebrations in the historic center, dominated by the castle that has belonged to the Mancini family since the 15th century.

San Vittore del Lazio, a borderland

The municipality of San Vittore del Lazio stands at an altitude of 210 meters, about 130 kilometers southeast of Rome and just minutes from Cassino, nestled between the municipalities of Cervaro and Viticuso on the Lazio side, and the Campanian and Molise towns of Mignano Monte Lungo, Rocca d'Evandro, San Pietro Infine, Venafro, and Conca Casale. This position as a hinge between three regions has shaped a frontier gastronomic culture, where high-altitude shepherding and transhumance have left a deep mark: the July festival is its most delicious showcase.

A calendar of village festivals

The Cheese Festival is part of a busy calendar of events: the patronal feast of San Vittore on May 8th, the Interregional Accordion Festival on the last Sunday of May, the "tagliariegli e fagioli" festival on the first Saturday of July, and the livestock fair on September 19th. For updated information on dates and programs, you can contact the Municipality of San Vittore del Lazio, the reference point for the town's events.