Coppietta Festival - Madonna della Ginestra Feast "Butteri Festival"

A festival uniting the Madonna and the horses

There are towns where the most important festival of the year is neither purely religious nor purely gastronomic: Marcellina, a town of just over seven thousand inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Lazio region, is one of them. Every year, at the end of May, the village at the foot of the Lucretili Mountains celebrates the Madonna della Ginestra Feast, which everyone here simply calls the Butteri Festival, alongside the Coppietta Festival, which reached its thirty-ninth edition in 2026.

Devotion to the Madonna della Ginestra is over a century old and centers on the Fonte Paolone chapel, the destination of the evening candlelight procession, perhaps the most evocative moment of the entire week. But alongside the religious dimension, there has always been the world of the butteri—the mounted herders who shaped the economic and social history of this corner of the Roman Sabina.

The butteri: herders and philosophers

A buttero is not just a shepherd. He is the man who managed herds while riding Maremmana-breed horses, using techniques and a code of conduct passed down from father to son. In Marcellina, this profession has become a collective identity: the I Butteri Cultural Association, active since 1975 and formalized in the nineties, organizes the festivities in honor of the Madonna della Ginestra and, since 1988, the Coppietta Festival, along with the "Our Roots" biennial photography exhibition.

Today, being a buttero primarily means upholding a philosophy of life rooted in a connection with nature and a love for horses. During the festival, this is clearly visible: men in traditional costumes, horses in the town streets, and the slow, precise gestures of outdoor cooking.

The coppietta, symbol of the butteri cuisine

The coppietta is the dish that gives the festival its name and is the true emblem of the butteri gastronomy. It consists of small pieces of meat—beef, sometimes veal—heavily spiced and left to marinate for about twelve hours, then slow-cooked in a large pan lined with grapevine cuttings. The result is a savory, spicy meat served hot directly at the stalls set up in town.

The coppietta is surrounded by an entire repertoire of local traditional dishes that rotate throughout the evenings:

• Polenta with pork spare ribs and broccoli rabe, the dish for cooler evenings
• Gnocchi with castrato sauce, a signature recipe of the Sabina and the Lazio Apennines
• Demonstrations of traditional local cheese making, with free tastings
• Wines and typical products from the Tiburtina and Sabina territories

Faith, music, and fireworks

The six-day calendar seamlessly weaves liturgy and entertainment. It begins with the vicariate vigil and the preparatory triduum, continues with the candlelight procession to the Fonte Paolone chapel and the penitential liturgy, and culminates in the Solemn Holy Mass and the procession through the town streets, accompanied by the band.

The secular side is just as vibrant: food stalls open every evening, a charity raffle, a photography exhibition, traditional games in the square, dance performances by local schools, and evening concerts. The 2026 edition featured, among others, the revival concert "I want to go back to the 90s", followed by the fireworks display that traditionally closes the festival.

Why visit Marcellina

Those arriving from Rome or Tivoli will find a festival that is still deeply popular, not built for tourism but lived by the locals. It is an opportunity to discover the Lucretili Mountains Regional Natural Park, of which Marcellina is a gateway, and to taste a rustic, spiced cuisine that has almost disappeared elsewhere in Lazio. Participation in shows and celebrations is free; you only pay for what you consume at the stalls, with affordable prices.