San Lorenzo Nuovo Gnocchi Festival

The most anticipated festival in Alta Tuscia

The San Lorenzo Nuovo Gnocchi Festival is the village's main summer event and one of the longest-running and most popular festivals in the province of Viterbo. Established in 1970, it takes place every year during the week of Ferragosto, from August 11th to 20th, immediately following the feast of the patron saint, San Lorenzo. For ten consecutive evenings, the village, located in northern Lazio between Lake Bolsena and the borders of Umbria and Tuscany, transforms into a large open-air restaurant capable of hosting thousands of guests.

A unique square as a stage

The festival is held in Piazza Europa, the extraordinary 18th-century octagonal square designed by architect Francesco Navone, modeled after the Amalienborg square in Copenhagen, with the church of San Lorenzo Martire serving as a backdrop. Hundreds of tables are set up under gazebos, and the convivial atmosphere of the illuminated square is an integral part of the experience.

Gnocchi and the Alto Viterbese potato

The absolute star is the handmade potato gnocchi, crafted according to the traditional recipe using the renowned Alto Viterbese potatoes, a flagship local agricultural product grown in the volcanic soils around Lake Bolsena. The gnocchi are offered in four classic varieties:

• with meat sauce (ragù), the traditional dressing;
• butter and sage, the most delicate version;
• vodka, a now-historic recipe of the festival;
• fresh basil pesto.

The menu is completed by appetizers, grilled sausages, dishes from Tuscia cuisine, local fried potatoes, and watermelon. The numbers reflect the scale of the event: every evening, about six hundred kilograms of gnocchi are served, for a total of around five tons per edition, with peaks in the best years exceeding eight tons and 19,000 plates.

The work of the Pro Loco and volunteers

Behind the organizational machine is the Pro Loco of San Lorenzo Nuovo, which, with the help of over 200 volunteers—from the local women kneading the gnocchi to the cooks, waiters, and cashiers—has carried on a tradition involving the entire community for over half a century. It is this spirit of collective participation that makes the festival an authentic identity ritual for the village.

Music, markets, and the San Lorenzo Fair

Every evening is enlivened by live music, shows, and folk dancing, with activities also designed for children. Along the streets of the center, there are craft, hobby, and local product markets, while on August 11th, the traditional San Lorenzo Fair is renewed with stalls lining the village streets. The festival is the heart of the Estate Sanlorenzana, the calendar of events that the Municipality of San Lorenzo Nuovo, in collaboration with the Pro Loco and local associations, offers from June to September, featuring concerts, theater, charity events, and gastronomy.

An opportunity to discover Lake Bolsena

Attending the festival is also an excellent opportunity to visit the Alta Tuscia area: San Lorenzo Nuovo stands at over 500 meters above sea level on the edge of the volcanic caldera of Lake Bolsena, the largest volcanic lake in Europe, just a few kilometers from Bolsena, Acquapendente, Grotte of Castro, and nearby Orvieto.