Olive Oil and Pizzafritta Festival

A festival born around the oil of the Monti Lucretili

The Olive Oil and Pizzafritta Festival is the most anticipated gastronomic event in Monteflavio, a village of a few hundred inhabitants perched over 700 meters above sea level in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region. The town is located within the Monti Lucretili Regional Natural Park, on the edge of the Sabina area, which has produced some of Italy's most celebrated extra virgin olive oils for centuries. The festival was created to showcase this product, not through lectures, but through the simplest and most popular culinary gesture: frying.

The pizzafritta, the absolute star

The Monteflavio pizzafritta has nothing to do with the stuffed Neapolitan fried pizza: it consists of leavened bread dough, rolled thin and plunged into boiling olive oil, where it puffs up and becomes fragrant in seconds. They are served hot, fresh from the fryer, simply salted or accompanied by local garden produce and cured meats. It is a rustic preparation, rooted in a time when oil was a family's wealth and bread was fried to celebrate.

What to eat

• Pizzafritte served hot, fried on the spot in local olive oil
• Bruschetta topped with freshly poured local extra virgin olive oil
• Sausage sandwiches cooked over the grill
• Traditional desserts: wild cherry tarts, homemade jams, and donuts
• Local wines, featuring regional wineries

How the evening unfolds

Everything takes place in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele III, the heart of the village. In recent editions, the ticket office opens in the late afternoon or early evening, followed shortly by the opening of the food stalls. Guests eat at tables set up in the square, outdoors, with music and entertainment provided by the Pro Loco. The format is the classic village festival style: you buy tickets at the box office and collect your food at the stalls, with affordable prices and generous portions.

A village to discover before dinner

Those arriving in the afternoon can take advantage of Monteflavio's location for a walk along the trails of the Monti Lucretili Park, which offer sweeping views over the Tiber Valley and, on clear days, as far as Rome. The historic center retains its medieval layout with narrow alleys and staircases, while nearby you can easily reach other Sabina villages such as Orvinio, Licenza, and Percile. The festival, traditionally presented by the organizers as "the first big event of the year," marks the start of the summer festival season for the town.

Why it's worth the trip

It is a small, authentic festival without tourist traps: you experience it shoulder-to-shoulder with the locals, who fry, serve, and share stories. For those coming from Rome, it is an evening getaway of just over an hour's drive that transports you to another dimension—fresh mountain air, simple cuisine, and that sense of community that has remained intact in the villages of the Lazio Apennines.