Patacò Festival

A dish of peasant memory

The Patacò Festival is the most iconic event in Licodia Eubea, a village nestled in the Iblei plateau in the province of Catania, in the heart of inland Sicily. Also known as Cicerchia Fest, the event celebrates patacò, an ancient dish prepared with flour milled from the grass pea, a rustic legume once common in the Iblei countryside.

With a consistency similar to polenta, patacò is enjoyed hot with a spoon or sliced once cooled, seasoned with local broccoli and regional sausage. It is a simple, nutritious dish that serves as a symbol of traditional Sicilian peasant cuisine.

The grass pea, a legume to be saved

The heart of the festival is the grass pea, a rustic legume considered a niche product at risk of disappearing, now promoted under the De.Co. mark and included in the Slow Food Ark of Taste. The festival was created specifically to draw attention to this forgotten crop, involving custodian farmers, local producers, and research bodies in a journey to protect agricultural biodiversity.

Two days of taste and culture

The event takes place in the evocative setting of the Ex-Monastery of San Benedetto and Santa Chiara, along Corso Umberto. The program alternates free tastings of patacò with a rich cultural calendar featuring conferences and round tables on the history and flavors of the territory, workshops, show cooking, and evening shows and concerts that bring the historic center to life.

• Free tasting of patacò with broccoli and sausage
• Stands featuring typical products and local producers
• Conferences and round tables on the grass pea and Iblei traditions
• Shows, music, and evening entertainment

A bond between Sicily and Spain

Over the years, the festival has strengthened the twinning between Licodia Eubea and the Spanish town of Santa Pau, with conferences dedicated to the historical ties connecting the two villages. The event, organized by the Municipality of Licodia Eubea with the Pro Loco Eubea, is now a highly anticipated appointment in the winter calendar of the Sicily region and an opportunity to discover the Iblei hinterland in its most authentic form.