Manna Festival

The Manna Festival in the heart of the Madonie

The Manna Festival is one of the most distinctive summer events in the Madonie region. It takes place in Pollina, a small town in the province of Palermo perched on a rocky spur overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, within the Madonie Park in Sicily. The event celebrates manna, a sugary sap extracted from ash trees (Fraxinus ornus and Fraxinus angustifolia) that grow between Pollina and Castelbuono—a rare and ancient product recognized as a Slow Food Presidium under the name "Manna delle Madonie".

A centuries-old rural tradition

Harvesting manna is a family ritual performed during the hottest months, from July to September, across hundreds of hectares of ash groves. The ntaccaluòri (harvesters) incise the bark with a special curved knife: the sap drips slowly and, upon contact with the air, solidifies into white stalactites known as "cannoli", the most prized quality. During the festival, visitors can watch demonstrations using traditional tools like the mannaruòlo for cutting and the rasula for scraping, and visit the Manna Ethno-anthropological Museum in Piazza Duomo, which preserves tools and testimonies of this ancient craft.

Tastings and folklore

In the afternoon and evening, the historic center comes alive with food stalls: you can sample sweet and savory specialties made with manna, from biscuits and nougats to cakes, panettone, and pralines, alongside typical Madonie products. The festival also features:

• guided tastings and visits to production sites in the ash groves;
• folk performances and traditional roaming music through the village streets;
• cultural moments such as book presentations and theatrical performances at the Pietra Rosa Theatre;
• the "Vivivicoli" event, featuring songs, storytelling, and costumed scenes in the village alleys.

Pollina, a balcony over the Tyrrhenian

A village with ancient origins, Pollina dominates the northern coast of Sicily and offers stunning views of the sea and the Madonie mountains. The Manna Festival is the perfect opportunity to discover this lesser-known corner of the island, its culinary traditions, and a product unique in the world that has linked the community's destiny to its ash trees for centuries.