Grottaferrata Beer Festival

A beer festival in the heart of the Castelli Romani

The Grottaferrata Beer Festival was created to offer a popular, free, and family-friendly event during the month of September in this town within the Metropolitan City of Rome. The venue is always the same: Piazzale San Nilo, the square in front of the famous Greek Abbey of Saint Nilus, which for a few days becomes a festive area spanning over 10,000 square meters. The formula was an immediate success, and editions have followed year after year, reaching the fifth in 2024 with impressive numbers: over ten thousand attendees during the final weekend alone.

Craft beer at the center

The heart of the event remains the beer. Each edition hosts six craft breweries with twenty-four different beers to sample: light, amber, dark, wheat beers, and seasonal brews, all served on tap at bars set up across the square. The idea is not just to have a drink, but to embark on a tasting journey: the public can compare different styles, get advice from the brewers, and pair each glass with a different dish.

Street food and Castelli cuisine

Alongside the beer stands is the gastronomic area, featuring over ten themed street food corners. The selection mixes Italian street food classics—fried snacks, porchetta sandwiches, grilled meats, traditional Roman pasta dishes—with specialties from other regions. In 2024, the event was enriched by the first edition of Castelli in Fermento – Wine and Gourmet Experiences, curated by the Grottaferrata Restaurateurs Association, which brought local wine producers to the square: a way to remember that this is a land of wine as well as, for a few days a year, a capital of beer.

Free concerts every night

The musical lineup is what has made the festival known far beyond the municipal borders. Every night, starting at 9:00 PM, the stage at Piazzale San Nilo hosts a free-entry concert, preceded during the day by lunch and dinner entertainment and followed by DJ sets. Over the years, a diverse range of names has performed—from Ladri di Carrozzelle to Cristina D'Avena, from Er Piotta to Brusco, up to Random and Marco Conidi's L'Orchestraccia—with the stated goal of appealing to audiences of all ages. There is also a silent fireworks display accompanied by music, designed to avoid disturbing animals and residents.

An event for families

• Children's area with games and entertainment
• Fairground rides and amusement park attractions
• Free admission for everyone, every day
• Large parking area and free shuttle service from parking lots

The choice of total free admission is a precise policy of the municipal administration: the festival is designed as an extended village fair, where you can walk in, look around, eat something, and listen to music without needing a ticket.

The Settembre Grottaferratese

The Beer Festival is part of the Saint Nilus month calendar, the period when Grottaferrata celebrates the founder of the Abbey with a packed program of events: craft markets at Parco Traiano, shows, concerts, food areas in the Abbey moat, and fireworks. Visiting the festival is therefore also an opportunity to discover one of the most characteristic villages of the Castelli Romani, about twenty kilometers from the center of Rome, with its Greek-Byzantine rite Abbey founded in 1004, its wine cellars, and typical Lazio restaurants.

The future of the event

As of today, no official dates have been published for a new edition. The Municipality of Grottaferrata and the organizers usually release the program in the weeks leading up to the event via official channels and the local Castelli Romani press: those wishing to attend can monitor these sources starting at the end of the summer.