Il Borgo in Festa

A festival that brings the village to life

Every summer, on a Saturday in mid-August, San Polo dei Cavalieri dresses up for a celebration. Il Borgo in Festa is the day when the village, perched on the slopes of the Monti Lucretili at an altitude of about 650 meters in the Metropolitan City of Rome, opens its squares, stone alleys, and castle to thousands of visitors. The formula is simple and successful: history in the morning, flavors at sunset, and music until late at night, all with free admission.

The Castello Orsini-Cesi-Borghese

The monumental heart of the festival is the Castello Orsini-Cesi-Borghese, the medieval fortress that dominates the village from above. During the event, guided tours are organized—in the 2025 edition at 10:30, 11:30, 16:30, and 17:30, lasting about 45 minutes—allowing visitors to discover the frescoed halls, crenelated walls, and green corners of the fortress. Booking is recommended as spots fill up quickly; for many, it is the annual opportunity to enter one of the best-preserved castles in the Roman Sabina region.

The flavors of the districts

As the sun sets, the festival changes its rhythm: around 7:30 PM, food stalls set up in the historic districts—Piazza del Gelo, La Sala, Le Casacce, and Piazza Padella—open their doors, turning the village into a culinary itinerary. Each tasting point offers traditional local and Sabina dishes:

• grilled arrosticini, sausages, and pancetta;
• porchetta and mortadella;
• fregnacce, a typical pasta from the Lazio region;
• local sangria and regional wines.

Strolling from one small square to another with a plate in hand, amidst illuminated arches and staircases, is the very essence of the event.

Music from morning to late night

The soundtrack of the day is provided by street bands that parade through the alleys, engaging the public—the first edition featured the Ciaccia Banda Street Band—and by DJ sets that animate the Casacce district until late at night. The result is an atmosphere that blends a traditional village fair with a contemporary party, attracting both families and young people from the nearby Aniene Valley and Rome.

In the heart of the Monti Lucretili Park

San Polo dei Cavalieri is one of the gateways to the Monti Lucretili Regional Natural Park, which participates in the festival with an information stand, materials, and gadgets dedicated to the area. From the village viewpoint, the gaze sweeps from the Roman countryside to the Tyrrhenian Sea on clear days: the festival is also an invitation to discover the trails, nature, and villages of this corner of Lazio, less than an hour from the Capital.

A young tradition

Il Borgo in Festa was born in 2023 on the initiative of the Confraternita della Madonna del Buon Consiglio, together with the Municipality of San Polo dei Cavalieri and the Parish of San Nicola di Bari. Since the first edition, which drew thousands of visitors, the organizers have aimed to make it a permanent fixture of the local summer calendar, part of the broader 'Estate Sampolese' program. The third edition, on Saturday, August 16, 2025, confirmed the success of the formula: a small village in the province of Rome that, for one day, becomes a stage for culture, taste, and conviviality.