La Contea Gentile - A Long-Expected Party

Middle-earth in the hills of Bucchianico

A Long-Expected Party is the flagship event of La Contea Gentile, the hobbit village created in the hills of Bucchianico, a small town in the province of Chieti, in the heart of Abruzzo. In the Contrada Porcareccia area, a landscape of rolling hills, small woods, streams, and cultivated fields becomes the setting for the Shire imagined by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings: a place where one lives in harmony with nature, just like the halflings of the Shire.

An immersive dinner show

The festival recreates the famous Long-Expected Party from the novel, Bilbo Baggins' birthday. Participants are not mere spectators: they arrive dressed as hobbits and, upon crossing the threshold of the Shire, discover which hobbit family they have been assigned to and receive a mathom, the birthday boy's symbolic gift. From that moment, an all-encompassing experience begins, filled with costumes, roles, rituals, food, and entertainment.

• Entry into the Shire in the afternoon, with assignment to families and distribution of gifts;
• The Grand Banquet in the evening, with a multi-course menu (vegetarian and vegan options available);
• The toast to Bilbo's birthday, with mead and beer;
• Live music with flutes and violins, dancing under lanterns, gastronomic challenges, storytelling around the fire, and theatrical performances;
• Fireworks to close the evening.

The project by Nicolas Gentile

La Contea Gentile is the brainchild of Nicolas Gentile, a pastry chef from Bucchianico and a great Tolkien enthusiast, who since 2018 has purchased the land around the town to bring his dream to life: building a real community inspired by hobbit principles, with houses featuring round doors nestled into the landscape. The project has captured the attention of national and international media, even involving some of the actors from the film saga. This vision gave birth to the festival, now a staple of the Abruzzo summer.

A limited-capacity event

To preserve the intimate and immersive atmosphere, A Long-Expected Party has limited spots and takes place over several weekends between August and September. Tickets sell out well in advance: those wishing to experience a night as a hobbit in the hills of Bucchianico must book early on the official La Contea Gentile website.