Fisherman's Festival - Feast of Saints Peter and Paul of Scardovari

The fishermen's festival of the Po Delta

The Fisherman's Festival - Feast of Saints Peter and Paul is the quintessential summer event in Scardovari, a hamlet in the municipality of Porto Tolle, in the heart of the Po Delta in the province of Rovigo. Organized by the Comitato Fiera SS. Pietro e Paolo (Organizing Committee for the Saints Peter and Paul Fair) together with the Pro Loco Porto Tolle, it is one of the longest-running and most attended festivals in the entire Polesine region: in 2023, it reached its 74th edition, a testament to a tradition rooted in the lives of the fishermen of the Scardovari Sacca.

The fish from the Sacca takes center stage

The heart of the event is the large food stand, open every evening from 7:00 PM, where you can taste fresh catches from the lagoon: mussels and clams from the Scardovari Sacca, fried fish, sardines, eel, and the seafood specialties that have made the Delta famous. Alongside the dining, there are dancing evenings, live music, exhibitions set up in the village school, markets, and a funfair for families.

The boat procession

The most evocative moment falls on the last Sunday, coinciding with the feast of the patron saints Peter and Paul: after the Holy Mass, a procession reaches the fishing port and continues by boat along the Sacca di Scardovari, where a wreath of flowers is cast into the water for the blessing of the sea and the fishermen. It is a rite that unites religious devotion and the ancestral bond with fishing.

A living tradition of Polesine

Thanks to the commitment of the volunteers from the Committee and the Pro Loco, the Fisherman's Festival has grown to become a reference point for the entire Delta territory, attracting visitors every summer from all over the province of Rovigo in search of good fish, music, and the authentic atmosphere of a fishing village.