Sagne Strasciate Festival

A village festival with thirty years of history

Paganico Sabino is one of the smallest municipalities in the Lazio region: with just over two hundred residents perched on a spur overlooking Lake Turano in the eastern part of the province of Rieti. Yet, on the last Sunday of July, this village attracts thousands of visitors every year, thanks to a simple dish and a Pro Loco that has made this festival its defining identity. The Sagne Strasciate Festival began in the early nineties and is now one of the most well-known gastronomic events in the Turano Valley.

What are sagne strasciate?

Sagne are a rustic pasta from the Sabina tradition: a dough of water, flour, and eggs is kneaded by hand and not cut with a knife, but torn—«strasciata» in the local dialect—into small, irregular strips. They are cooked quickly and served with the sauce that made the village famous: a rich porcini mushroom ragù gathered from the surrounding mountain forests. The irregular shape of the pasta holds the sauce perfectly, and this intentional imperfection is the secret of the dish. The Pro Loco volunteers work for days to prepare it in quantities measured in quintals.

The food and the table

Lunch is served at the Centro Diurno, under large covered structures that provide shade and seating even on the hottest days. In addition to the sagne, the menu includes:

• Porchetta sliced to order, served with crusty homemade bread
• Local red wine from the Sabina region
• In the evening, arrosticini (grilled lamb skewers) and beer

Service begins around 12:30 PM and continues without interruption; in the afternoon, the market stalls remain open, and the kitchen resumes for dinner.

Beyond the table: exhibitions, churches, and guided tours

From the morning, the village comes alive with guided tours organized in collaboration with the Paganico Sabino cultural group. Visitors can explore the three historic churches—the Church of San Nicola, dating back to the 14th century; the Church of Santa Maria dell'Annunziata with its 16th-century frescoes; and the Church of San Giovanni Battista—along with the small museum of memory. Exhibitions set up for the occasion tell the story of the local school, sacred artifacts, and tools of rural life.

Along the streets of the center, you will find stalls selling typical products from the Sabina region: extra virgin olive oil, cheeses, cured meats, honey, preserves, and local handicrafts. The day is accompanied by musical entertainment and live performances that continue until late at night.

A plastic-free festival

For several years, the Pro Loco has chosen to organize the event as a plastic-free festival, using compostable tableware and waste sorting: a choice consistent with the natural setting of Lake Turano and the Monti Navegna e Cervia Nature Reserve, where the municipality is located.

What to see nearby

The festival is also an opportunity to discover a corner of Lazio rarely touched by mass tourism. A short walk from the village is the Pietra Scritta, a Roman imperial-era funerary monument carved into the rock, while the Belvedere della Rocca offers a panoramic view of the artificial Turano basin. The lake, with its green waters and villages suspended on its shores—Castel di Tora, Colle di Tora, Ascrea—is one of the most beloved summer destinations in the Rieti area.

Why visit

In a region where there are hundreds of food festivals, the one in Paganico Sabino remains an example of an authentic celebration: no commercial stages, no restaurant chains, just an entire community cooking for those who arrive. This is why, for over thirty years, the festival has continued to fill a village of two hundred inhabitants.