Mountain Festival

A festival that puts the mountains back at the center

The Mountain Festival in Bolognola, in the province of Macerata, is one of those traditions that tell the soul of the Marche Apennines. It takes place around the small church of Santa Maria Maddalena, an isolated Romanesque jewel that stands at 1112 meters above sea level, right in the Monti Sibillini National Park. The small church, built around the mid-14th century, ideally marks the border between the territories of several inland municipalities: Bolognola, Caldarola, Fiastra, Cessapalombo, and Valfornace (the ancient Pievebovigliana).

The rebirth since 2007

For just one day a year, around July 22nd — the day the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Mary Magdalene — this almost remote place becomes a meeting point and a place of devotion again. The festival in its current form was born in 2007, on the initiative of the administrations of the municipalities surrounding the plateau, with the aim of restoring the church's role as a place of worship and celebrating mountain life. Since then, it has attracted a growing number of participants, including faithful, hikers, and local families.

Between faith, nature, and folklore

The day combines the religious dimension with the popular one. Processions depart from the nearby villages, ascending to the plateau, where an open-air mass is celebrated in the evocative setting of the high-altitude meadows. Around the church, a communal lunch, songs, and moments of mountain folklore take shape, making this occasion a true village festival spread across several hamlets.

A heritage to discover

The church of Santa Maria Maddalena still preserves fragments of 14th-century frescoes — including a Crucifix, the figure of Mary Magdalene, and some angelic faces — attributable to the style of the painter Cola di Pietro, active in the area between 1370 and 1380. Reaching it requires a short walk, but it is precisely this that makes the Mountain Festival an authentic experience: you arrive on foot, share a day at altitude, and rediscover the ancient bond between the Sibillini communities and their mountains. The festival is among the most cherished events in the area of Bolognola, a small mountain municipality in the Province of Macerata, in the Marche region.