Saint Lawrence Festival of Montecuccolo

A festival at the foot of the Montecuccoli castle

The Saint Lawrence Festival is the summer festival of the hamlet of Montecuccolo, one of the most evocative medieval villages in the Municipality of Pavullo nel Frignano, in the upper Apennines of the Province of Modena, Emilia-Romagna. Dedicated to Saint Lawrence, celebrated on August 10th, the event takes place in the setting of the ancient village dominated by the tower and castle of the Montecuccoli family, the illustrious house that gave birth to the condottiero Raimondo Montecuccoli.

The village, the castle, and the panorama

Montecuccolo stands on a rocky outcrop at the southern edge of a wooded ridge, along the ancient roads that connected the Po Valley, through Frignano, to Tuscany. The village is divided into an upper nucleus, with the historic Montecuccoli residence and the 12th-century tower, and a lower village. During the festival, the village comes alive with flavors and moments of conviviality: the stands are set up in the "count's garden", behind the church, from which there is an open view of Monte Cimone, which appears illuminated in the evening.

The cuisine of Frignano

The heart of the festival is the food stand managed by the Parish Committee of Montecuccolo, which involves dozens of volunteers of all ages each year. The menu celebrates the tradition of the Modena Apennines:

• Crescentine and borlenghi, symbols of mountain cuisine;
• Gramigna with sausage, a typical local first course;
• Polenta served with gorgonzola and caciotta or with ragù.

A tradition growing since 2012

The first edition of the Saint Lawrence Festival dates back to 2012 and, except for the break imposed by the pandemic, the event is renewed every summer, becoming a deeply felt custom for the community. Alongside the food, there are children's games, religious celebrations, a procession with the Montecuccoli Choir, and guided tours of the castle, sometimes enlivened by historical reenactors.

Saint Lawrence in Castagneto

The Saint Lawrence festival in Montecuccolo is ideally linked to the Parish Festival of Castagneto, another hamlet of Pavullo, which on August 10th offers food stands with local products, a bell concert, the performance of the Banda Città di Pavullo, and in the evening, a Holy Mass with a torchlight procession around the village: two nearby events that together close the Saint Lawrence nights in Frignano.