Fried Pizza Festival

A festival that smells of fried dough in the Garigliano Valley

Every summer, the historic center of Sant'Ambrogio sul Garigliano, a small hillside town in the province of Frosinone overlooking the Garigliano River valley, comes alive for the Fried Pizza Festival. The town's two main squares, Piazza Luigi Cadorna and Piazza San Biagio, fill with food stalls, long tables, and music: for one night, this village in the far south of Lazio, bordering Campania, becomes the Ciociaria capital of one of the most beloved specialties of Southern Italian popular cuisine.

Fried pizza, the star of the evening

The undisputed star is, of course, the fried pizza: a simple dough plunged into boiling oil and served piping hot, according to a tradition that, in this border area between Lazio and Campania, is rooted in humble peasant cooking. The association's volunteers prepare it on the spot and offer it in the most delicious variations:

• with tomato sauce, the most classic version;
• with mortadella, for traditional palates;
• with provola cheese, stringy and savory;
• with Nutella, for a sweet finish;
• a version dedicated to celiacs, so no one is left out.

To accompany the pizzas, there are sandwiches, French fries, draft beer, and wines from the Cantina Convivio, for an informal and convivial dinner under the stars.

Music and conviviality in the squares

The festival is not just about gastronomy: every year, the historic squares host live music that keeps the evening going until late. In the 2026 edition, entertainment was provided by Rita Mariani and her Band da Sballo, while in 2025 the audience was entertained by the musical group Gianluca Live. The atmosphere is typical of village festivals in Ciociaria: families, groups of friends, and visitors from nearby towns in the Cassino and upper Caserta areas gather in the alleys to eat, dance, and chat.

The festival's charitable heart: Dynamo Camp

A distinctive feature of the event is its charitable soul: during the evening, a fundraiser is organized for the Dynamo Camp ETS Foundation, which offers recreational therapy programs to children and teenagers suffering from serious and chronic illnesses. Eating a fried pizza in Sant'Ambrogio therefore also means supporting a concrete cause, in the true spirit of community.

Sant'Ambrogio sul Garigliano, a border village

The Municipality of Sant'Ambrogio sul Garigliano, which sponsors the event, has a few hundred inhabitants and is one of the southernmost villages in the Lazio Region: from its hills, the view sweeps over the Garigliano Valley and the mountains of the Cassino area, with Montecassino on the horizon. The festival is also an opportunity to discover this little-known corner of Ciociaria, its compact historic center, and the Museum of Rural Culture, which preserves the territory's peasant memory.

A well-established tradition

Organized by the Convivio – Franco Messore Recreational-Cultural Association, the Fried Pizza Festival has over fifteen years of history: the 2026 edition, held on Friday, July 3rd, was the sixteenth. It is a fixed summer appointment in the south of the province of Frosinone, with free admission, attracting food lovers from all over the valley every year.