Estate di San Martino della Ganzaria (Ganzaria Flavours Festival)

The festival of Calatino flavours

The Estate di San Martino della Ganzaria, also known as the Ganzaria Flavours Festival, is the food and wine event that enlivens San Michele di Ganzaria—a small village in the Calatino area of the province of Catania, Sicily—every autumn. The event takes place in November, coinciding with the so-called 'St. Martin's Summer', the brief return of mild weather that, according to tradition, precedes St. Martin's Day on November 11th, when the new wine and oil are traditionally tasted.

Food stalls at Largo Gammazita

The heart of the festival is Largo Gammazita, where food stalls managed by local associations and students from the San Michele di Ganzaria Hotel School are set up. Here, visitors can purchase numerous local products and savour traditional specialities: pasta with wild boar ragù, tripe, chickpeas, pane cunzato, cuccìa, grilled meats, and, for a sweet finish, cassatelle and cannoli.

Local produce

The festival is above all a showcase for the agricultural excellence of the Ganzaria area. Among the stars of the stalls and guided tastings are the new olive oil and wine, wheat, saffron, prickly pears, and almonds—products that tell the story of a rural landscape still tied to the rhythms of the seasons.

Culture, tradition, and entertainment

Alongside the food, the calendar features conferences, educational sessions dedicated to agriculture, guided wine and oil tastings, guided tours, and folk, musical, and entertainment shows. Recommended stops include the Ganzaria Museum, with its archaeological finds, the room dedicated to ancient crafts, and traditional Albanian Arbëreshë costumes, as well as the Poggio District, a neighbourhood transformed into an open-air museum thanks to its street art murals.

A village to discover

Visiting the Estate di San Martino also means getting to know San Michele di Ganzaria and its surroundings: a municipality in the Catania hinterland that preserves peasant traditions, an Arbëreshë identity, and genuine gastronomy in an authentic corner of inland Sicily.