Noccianese Week and Saint Lawrence Feast

The patronal feast of Nocciano

The Noccianese Week and Saint Lawrence Feast is the most anticipated summer event in Nocciano, a small hilltop village in the province of Pescara, Abruzzo. Every year, in the first ten days of August, the town gathers around its patron saint, Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, liturgically celebrated on August 10th. The week of festivities, traditionally spread between August 3rd and 10th, transforms the streets and squares of the historic center into a large meeting space, with the highlight occurring on August 9th and 10th.

Between devotion and food festival

The festival weaves together two souls. On one hand, the religious dimension, with solemn mass, the procession, and rites in honor of Saint Lawrence, whose memory in Nocciano is guarded by the ancient church of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr, a 13th-century building that preserves precious fragments of 14th-century frescoes. On the other, the popular dimension of the food festival (sagra), with gastronomic stands that enliven the evenings and offer the flavors of the territory.

The flavors of tradition

Gastronomy is one of the main attractions of the Noccianese Week. During the festival days, local culinary specialties are always present:

• Porchetta, slow-roasted and served at the stands;
• Sagne e fagioli, a humble and iconic dish of the Abruzzese peasant tradition;
• typical products and local desserts, accompanied by regional wines such as Montepulciano d'Abruzzo.

Tastings are accompanied by a market of typical products, where local artisans and producers offer the best of the Pescara hills.

Shows, music, and dialect theater

The festival evenings alternate between live music, open-air entertainment, and dialect theater performances—a popular form of entertainment much loved in Abruzzo that brings the local language and village stories to the stage. There are also moments designed for families and children, in a cheerful atmosphere that accompanies the warm nights of Saint Lawrence, the nights of the shooting stars.

A village to discover

The festival is also an opportunity to visit Nocciano, a village with ancient origins linked to the Vestini people, perched on a hill between the Nora and Pescara valleys. The heart of the town is the De Sterlich-Aliprandi Castle, a fortress built around the year 1000 and transformed into a noble residence, which now houses the Museum of Arts, one of the largest collections of contemporary Abruzzese art. The Noccianese Week, organized by the Municipality of Nocciano with the involvement of the community, remains one of the most iconic summer events in the Pescara hinterland.