Pecorino Cheese Fair

The pecorino festival in the ideal village of Pope Pius II

The Pecorino Cheese Fair is the most cherished event in Pienza, a small and famous town in the Province of Siena, in the heart of the Tuscan Val d'Orcia, a landscape declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Every year, at the beginning of September, the historic center commissioned by Pope Pius II in the 15th century fills with stalls, aromas, and visitors arriving to celebrate the product that has made the village famous worldwide: the Pecorino di Pienza.

For an entire week, the streets and squares of the center host a large market of cheese and local products, with local farmers offering their fresh, semi-aged, and aged pecorino, accompanied by Val d'Orcia wines and local gastronomic excellence. There is no shortage of guided tastings, cheese-making demonstrations, and moments of conviviality that enliven the village from morning until night.

The Gioco del Cacio al Fuso

The heart of the Fair is the Gioco del Cacio al Fuso, a popular joust held in Piazza Pio II, in front of the cathedral and Palazzo Piccolomini. The game, similar in some ways to bocce, requires contestants to roll a wheel of pecorino, trying to get it as close as possible to a colored wooden fuso (spindle) planted in the center of the square: the closer you get to the target, the more points you score in the concentric circles drawn around it.

Competing are the six districts of Pienza — Case Nuove, Casello, Gozzante, La Mura, Il Prato, and San Piero — each with its own colors and throwers, often expert players who approach the competition with great passion and seriousness. The winning district is awarded a banner painted by an artist, a true symbol of victory kept with pride.

Tradition, folklore, and taste

Alongside the competition between the districts, the Fair offers a rich backdrop of initiatives: performances by flag-wavers, music, traditional dances like the trescone, children's entertainment, and shows that accompany the evenings. The event, created in the 1960s by the Pienza Pro Loco, has grown to become an attraction of not only regional but international appeal, capable of combining the promotion of the territory with the preservation of an ancient peasant tradition.

Visiting Pienza during the Pecorino Cheese Fair means discovering the most authentic side of Tuscany: the pecorino, the landscape of the Val d'Orcia, the Renaissance architecture of the village, and a community that continues to celebrate its roots. A perfect opportunity to combine a food and wine trip with the discovery of one of the most fascinating places in the Tuscany Region.