Onano Lentil Festival (PGI)

A festival born to showcase a unique legume

The Onano Lentil Festival is one of the longest-running gastronomic events in Upper Tuscia. Reaching its 44th edition in 2025, it takes place every year during the week of August that includes Ferragosto, in the Municipality of Onano, a small village in the Province of Viterbo bordering Tuscany, just a few kilometers from Lake Bolsena. The festival is organized by the Onano Pro Loco with the support of the municipal administration and mobilizes dozens of local volunteers every summer.

The Onano PGI Lentil

The product being celebrated is no ordinary legume. The Onano lentil is documented in the municipal statutes of 1561 and has received international recognition at exhibitions in Rome, Buenos Aires (1910), London, and Paris (1911). It is distinguished by its larger size compared to other varieties, its very tender skin—which allows it to cook without prolonged soaking—and its delicate, persistent flavor. Over time, the municipality established a De.Co. (Municipal Denomination of Origin) to protect crops grown exclusively within the Onano territory, prior to its full recognition as a Protected Geographical Indication.

What to eat

The heart of the festival lies in the food stalls set up in Piazza Pio XII and the streets of the historic center, where the cooks and Pro Loco volunteers prepare the legume according to the village's traditional recipes. Among the most popular dishes:

• Plain lentils, seasoned simply with oil, salt, rosemary, and pepper
• Lentils in tomato sauce
• Lentils with sausage and with baby octopus
• Lentil soup with potatoes and carrots, and the version with porcini mushrooms
• Lentil and potato gnocchi, one of the most recent additions to the menu
• Viterbo cuisine classics: bruschetta, fried tortelle, and handmade ombrichelli

Music, dialect theater, and games

The festival is about more than just food. Every evening, after the stalls open, the stage hosts concerts and dance nights, while throughout the week there are performances of theater in the Onano dialect—a highly anticipated event featuring scripts based on local village life—along with art exhibitions, craft and local product markets, soccer tournaments, treasure hunts, raffles, mountain bike races, and equestrian events. The week is also intertwined with the religious life of the village: the Procession of the Assumption on August 15th and the celebrations in honor of Saint Tifone, the patron saint of Onano.

The village and its surroundings

Onano is a medieval village built of tuff, dominated by the Palazzo Monaldeschi della Cervara and surrounded by fields cultivated with lentils. The festival is the perfect opportunity to discover it: for one week, the streets of the historic center become a continuous path of aromas, stalls, and music. The surrounding area—the Upper Tuscia region of Lazio—offers easy access by car to Lake Bolsena, Acquapendente, San Lorenzo Nuovo, and the nearby Tuscan border with Sorano and Pitigliano, for a stay that combines gastronomy, nature, and historic villages.

Information on the 2026 edition

The event is held annually during the week of Ferragosto. At the time of writing, the Onano Pro Loco had not yet released the official calendar for the 45th edition: we recommend checking the dates and the final program on the Pro Loco channels before traveling.