Festa di San Lorenzo — Alone di Casto

A village festival that stands the test of time

Alone is one of the most picturesque hamlets of Casto, a municipality in upper Valle Sabbia in the Province of Brescia. A handful of houses, about 150 inhabitants, clinging to the mountainside: yet every year, between the end of July and the beginning of August, this small village becomes the beating heart of a festival that has been going on for decades. The Festa di San Lorenzo is much more than a sagra (local festival): it is the moment when the community comes together, and when those who have left the village for study or work also return.

Sacred and profane under the same sky

The festival originated around the little church dedicated to Saint Lawrence the Martyr, which gives the event its name. The program intertwines religious moments—the Saturday eve mass and the Sunday evening mass followed by a procession through the village streets—with the convivial dimension that has always characterized mountain festivals. The parish of Casto is, moreover, dedicated to Saints Anthony, Bernardino, and Lawrence, and this hamlet festival keeps an ancient devotion alive.

The mountain table

Under the marquee, traditional Valle Sabbia dishes are cooked: polenta carbonera and taragna polenta, casoncelli, roasts, accompanied by the simple and robust flavors of mountain cuisine. The evenings pass with live music, dancing, and conversation, in an atmosphere of authentic and familiar celebration.

The Alone Bike

In recent years, the Alone Bike, a mountain bike race, has been added to the festival, bringing cyclists to compete on the trails and slopes surrounding the hamlet, offering spectacular views of the Valle Sabbia mountains. It's a way to combine tradition and sport, and to introduce an unspoiled territory to outsiders.

Why it's worth climbing to Alone

Reaching Alone means getting away from the most beaten tourist routes and discovering a corner of Lombardy that has remained true to itself. The Festa di San Lorenzo is the ideal opportunity to breathe in the genuine atmosphere of a mountain village, sit down at the table with the locals, and understand why, year after year, this small community continues to gather around its saint.