Ribera DOP Orange Festival

The festival celebrating Riberella

The Ribera DOP Orange Festival is the winter food and wine event dedicated to the territory's signature product: the Ribera DOP Orange, a Washington Navel blond orange locally known as Riberella, which is incredibly sweet, juicy, and seedless. Established in 2018 at the initiative of the Municipality of Ribera, the festival takes place in the heart of the historic center, between Corso Umberto I and the town squares, and has also become known over the years as the Riberella Winter Food Festival.

A product unique in the world

The Ribera Orange was the first orange in Italy to obtain the Protected Designation of Origin (DOP) status. Grown in the Platani Valley, in the province of Agrigento, it is harvested starting in November and is prized for its sweet flesh, which is rich in Vitamin C. The festival was created specifically to promote this citrus supply chain, a symbol of quality and sustainability for the entire Sicani area.

The program

The festival days offer a packed calendar of events:

• Cooking shows with Sicilian chefs and pastry makers who reinterpret the orange in appetizers, main courses, desserts, and cocktails;
• Taste workshops, guided tastings, and thematic conferences on the citrus industry;
• Village of Flavors with stalls featuring local agri-food products along Corso Umberto I;
• Guided tours of the citrus groves of the Protection Consortium and tours of the town's churches;
• Musical performances, folk groups, children's entertainment, and street artists.

Ribera and its territory

Located in southwestern Sicily, in the Municipality of Ribera in the province of Agrigento, the town preserves its characteristic 18th-century urban layout. The festival is promoted by the Municipality together with the Consortium for the Protection of the Ribera DOP Orange and involves local producers, restaurateurs, and regional entities. The event is part of the tradition of winter festivals in the province of Agrigento, in a Sicily that makes citrus a true ambassador of its gastronomic identity.