Festival of Pork Knuckle and Pork Cheek

A festival dedicated to pork flavors

The Festival of Pork Knuckle and Pork Cheek is one of the most anticipated summer events in the Bassa Modenese. It takes place every July in Camurana, a hamlet of the Municipality of Medolla, in the province of Modena, in the heart of Emilia-Romagna. The setting is the welcoming Parco Canonica, at Via Camurana 35, where an outdoor gastronomic stand is set up every evening, attracting food lovers from all over the Emilian plain.

The star dishes

As the name suggests, the festival celebrates two iconic cuts of traditional Po Valley cured pork: pork knuckle, served roasted or baked, and pork cheek, offered with mushrooms and polenta or in a sweet and sour sauce. Alongside the meat courses, the menu features the great first courses of Emilian cuisine:

• Maccheroni al pettine with pork cheek or rib ragù
• Gramigna with sausage
• Bigoli with salami ragù
• Grilled chicken with potatoes and veal escalopes (lemon, balsamic vinegar, or wine sauce)

The kitchen opens around 7:30 PM; given the turnout, table reservations are highly recommended.

Music and village atmosphere

The Festival of Pork Knuckle and Pork Cheek is not just a gastronomic occasion: every evening is enlivened by live music and entertainment that transforms Parco Canonica into a meeting place for families, friends, and passing visitors. It's the classic Emilian summer village festival, where the pleasure of good food combines with outdoor conviviality under the stars.

An event rooted in the Modena territory

The event is part of the rich calendar of festivals in the northern Modena area, an expression of the gastronomic culture of the Bassa region, a land of cured meats, fresh pasta, and ancient pork butchery traditions. Camurana and Medolla, towns in the plain between Modena and the Secchia river, preserve a strong rural identity that is fully expressed in these summer festivals, a true heritage of social life for the local communities.