Fried Pizza Festival

A late-summer evening in Magliano Romano

The Fried Pizza Festival is one of the most recent and popular events on the calendar of Magliano Romano, a village of a few hundred inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the heart of the Lazio countryside north of the capital. Born from an initiative of the Pro Loco of Magliano Romano, the festival has quickly established itself as the event that ideally closes the village's summer season, when September evenings grow cooler and the square fills up once again.

The chosen location is no coincidence: the Municipal Amphitheatre offers an intimate, natural setting, with tiered seating facing the stage and the food area just a few steps away. It is a space that allows you to eat, listen to music, and dance without having to move, which is why this single-evening format works so well.

Fried pizza, the star of the festival

The dish that gives the festival its name is among the simplest and most beloved of Lazio's popular traditions: a disc of leavened dough, hand-stretched and plunged into boiling oil, which puffs up in seconds and must be eaten piping hot. In Magliano Romano, it is offered in two versions, both available throughout the evening:

• Plain fried pizza, to appreciate its fragrance and authenticity, in the version closest to what was once prepared in the village homes;
• Stuffed fried pizza, for a richer and more indulgent option, designed especially for those staying for dinner at the amphitheatre.

Around the main dish, the classic atmosphere of a village festival is built: stalls managed by volunteers, shared tables, and waiting times that become an opportunity for conversation. It is a gastronomy that focuses not on refinement but on collective memory, and which in Magliano Romano is accompanied by the local agricultural and pastoral production—the same that has made the historic Sheep Festival famous over the years.

Folk music and dancing

The Fried Pizza Festival is not just a gastronomic celebration. The program includes a segment of folk music, with accordion and drum accompaniment, recalling the repertoire of the peasant festivals of the Roman Agro and the Viterbo area; afterwards, the evening continues with a DJ set dedicated to the hits of the eighties and nineties, keeping the amphitheatre lively until closing time. It is a deliberate combination: the first part speaks to the older generation and the memory of the village, while the second brings together younger generations and visitors from neighbouring towns.

Magliano Romano and its surroundings

Magliano Romano is located just over thirty kilometres from Rome, in an area of great landscape interest between the Tiber Valley, the Veio Regional Park, and the towns along the Via Flaminia. The village retains a compact historical layout, dominated by the church of San Giovanni Battista, and thrives on proximity tourism consisting of hiking, agriculture, and community events. Festivals here are an essential part of community life: they are the moment when the Pro Loco raises funds, families reunite, and the village opens up to visitors.

Why it is worth visiting

Those looking for a massive festival will find others elsewhere in Lazio. However, those who want to understand what an authentic village festival is like—a few hours, one single dish, entirely volunteer-run—will find a very successful example in Magliano Romano. Admission to the event area is free, you only pay for what you consume at the stalls, and the single-evening format makes it a perfect destination for a late-summer trip a short distance from Rome.