Festivities in Honor of Saint Raymond Nonnatus

A neighborhood festival in the heart of Rome's Municipio VII

The Festivities in Honor of Saint Raymond Nonnatus are the patronal feast of the parish of the same name, located in the Osteria del Curato area, just a stone's throw from Capannelle in Rome's Municipio VII (province of Rome, Lazio). Here, where the city fades into the Appia Nuova and the Grande Raccordo Anulare, the community that has grown around the church on Via del Casale Ferranti organizes an event every year between late spring and early summer that residents look forward to for months.

This is not a tourist attraction or a major city-wide exhibition: it is a neighborhood feast in the most authentic sense of the term, built by parish volunteers, youth groups, and families who cook, set up, assemble the stage, and dismantle everything on Sunday night. Precisely for this reason, it preserves an atmosphere that has become rare in Rome: one of plastic chairs under a marquee, shared long tables, and children running around until late.

Saint Raymond Nonnatus, the saint of the Mercedarians

The parish is entrusted to the Mercedarian Fathers, an order founded for the ransom of captives, and bears the name of Saint Raymond Nonnatus, a 13th-century Catalan religious figure who, according to tradition, offered himself as a hostage to free other slaves. This figure speaks volumes about the character of the festival: alongside the devotional dimension, there is always a strong focus on charity and solidarity, with fundraising initiatives to support parish works and local families.

The rhythm of the days

The structure of the festival repeats year after year and is now familiar to the entire neighborhood: in the afternoon, the triduum of prayer celebrations take place in the church, while the evening features the opening of the food stand followed by performances under the marquee. The weekend brings the most solemn moments, with Mass and the procession winding through the streets of the neighborhood, followed by the final celebrations.

• Religious celebrations: triduum, solemn Masses, and a procession along the neighborhood streets
• Food stand featuring Roman and home-style cuisine, managed by volunteers
• Live music, cabaret evenings, and entertainment shows
• Children's entertainment, with games and magic shows
• Charity raffle and lottery with prizes to support parish activities
• Fireworks display to close the festivities

Dining at the festival

The food stand generally opens every evening around 7:00 PM - 7:30 PM and offers a menu of traditional dishes, from pasta to grilled main courses, with affordable prices designed for local families. It is the true center of gravity for the event: people eat, chat, and stay seated until the stage calls.

A piece of Rome not seen in guidebooks

Visitors from outside the area will find a side of the city far removed from the historic center's circuits: the Rome of residential neighborhoods built after the Second World War, where the parish remains one of the few gathering places. Within a few kilometers, you will find the Capannelle Racecourse, the Park of the Aqueducts, and the start of the Appian Way: more than enough reasons to combine a day of sightseeing with an evening of celebration.

Why it's worth visiting

Because it's free, genuine, and tells the story of a way of being together that still endures. Those who visit for the first time usually come back: not for the show itself, but for the warmth of the volunteers and that small-town air that, for a few evenings in June, takes over a corner of the Roman suburbs.