Saint Vincent the Martyr Festival

A village festival in the Aterno Valley

The Saint Vincent the Martyr Festival is one of the most anticipated events of the summer in Tione degli Abruzzi, a tiny municipality of a few hundred inhabitants nestled at an altitude of about 580 meters in the Aterno Valley, in the province of L'Aquila, within the Sirente-Velino Regional Park. Every year, around mid-August, the village and its hamlets come alive to celebrate Saint Vincent the Martyr, a figure deeply rooted in local devotion: his relics are kept in the 18th-century church named after him, with its characteristic late-Baroque white facade, which unfortunately remained unusable after the 2009 earthquake that struck the L'Aquila area.

Devotion and tradition

The heart of the festival remains religious. The solemn day opens early in the morning with blank shots announcing the recurrence, followed by the brass band touring the village, the morning concert, and the solemn Holy Mass. In the afternoon, the procession with the statue of the Saint winds through the streets of the historic center, accompanied by the participation of the inhabitants and the many Tionesi emigrants who return to the village specifically for this occasion. It is a festival that, as Abruzzese tradition dictates, holds together the sacred and the community, the memory of the fathers, and the bond with the land.

Music, lights, and conviviality

Alongside the religious rites, the festival offers the usual civil program that enlivens the village for several days: the evening concert by the Aterno Brass Band of Santa Maria del Ponte in the main square, the raffle drawing, the stalls, the food stands with the flavors of the Abruzzese rural tradition, and, to close the evening, the fireworks display. Over the years, there have also been moments of reflection dedicated to the future of inland areas and the life of small Apennine villages, themes dear to a community that resists depopulation.

Tione degli Abruzzi and its villages

The municipality includes, in addition to the main town, the hamlets of Goriano Valli, Santa Maria del Ponte, and Villa Grande, each with its own identity and heritage of churches and ancient rural architecture. The territory, immersed in woods and silence at the foot of the Sirente massif, is famous for the cultivation of L'Aquila saffron, the Abruzzese "red gold" harvested by hand in mid-October. A context of great naturalistic and landscape charm, which makes the August festival an opportunity to rediscover an authentic corner of inland Abruzzo.

An ongoing tradition

The Saint Vincent the Martyr Festival returns punctually every summer, enlivening Tione degli Abruzzi in one of the liveliest moments of the year. For the 2026 edition, the official dates have not yet been announced: it is advisable to follow the channels of the Committee and the Municipality to learn about the detailed program as soon as it is made public.