Saint John the Baptist Festival

The patronal feast of Chiarino

The Saint John the Baptist Festival is the most cherished event of the summer in the small hamlet of Chiarino, in the municipality of Tossicia, province of Teramo. At the foot of the Gran Sasso d'Italia and within the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, the village gathers around its patron saint for a weekend of faith, conviviality, and tradition.

The festival combines religious services, live music in the square, and local gastronomy: it is a time when the Chiarino community, along with many who return to the village for the occasion, comes together in the streets and the village square to renew a ritual that repeats every year around June 24th, the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

Faith and devotion

The religious heart of the event is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of the hamlet. The days are marked by liturgical celebrations and moments of popular devotion that have accompanied the festival for generations in this small center of the Valle Siciliana, the ancient district of which Tossicia was the capital under the Alarçon y Mendoza marquises.

Music, squares, and the flavors of the Gran Sasso

Alongside the religious aspects, the festival thrives on musical evenings and social gatherings in the village square. Over the years, Chiarino has also hosted major concerts as part of the Gran Sasso-Laga district's summer festivals: in June 2023, for example, the festival concluded with a concert by the Ricchi e Poveri, organized by the Pro Loco of Chiarino with the patronage of the Municipality of Tossicia.

There is no shortage of food stalls featuring specialties of the Teramo mountains, from traditional first courses to the essential arrosticini, in a simple and authentic atmosphere that defines Abruzzo village festivals.

A village in the Gran Sasso Park

Visiting Chiarino during the festival is also an opportunity to discover Tossicia and its surroundings: the Renaissance Palazzo Marchesale, the church of Santa Sinforosa, the painted village of Azzinano with its murals, and the trails of the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park. A corner of inland Abruzzo where tradition remains alive and the patronal feast continues to be the glue for a small mountain community.