Sant'Agostino Patronal Feast (Campo Ascolano)

A neighborhood festival on the Pomezia coast

The Sant'Agostino Patronal Feast is the most anticipated event of the year for Campo Ascolano, a residential and seaside district in the Municipality of Pomezia, within the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in Lazio. Nestled between the pine forest and the sea, just a few kilometers from Torvaianica and the Ardea coastline, the district experiences a different atmosphere for a few days: the streets are filled with illuminations, the church square becomes a central hub, and families who barely see each other during the winter come together.

The patron saint and local devotion

Saint Augustine of Hippo, one of the four great Doctors of the Western Church, is the patron of the Campo Ascolano parish and the community. The civil celebration is traditionally brought forward to the first days of August, when the district is more populated thanks to holidaymakers, while the saint's liturgical feast day falls on August 28th. It is a practical and affectionate choice, typical of many coastal districts in Lazio: the festival is held when there are more people, because the patronal feast is, above all, a moment of gathering.

How it works

The religious heart of the event remains the solemn mass followed by the procession with the statue of the saint, which travels through the main streets of the district accompanied by the faithful and, often, a marching band. Afterwards, the civil festivities take over the square in front of the church and throughout the neighborhood.

• Food stalls run by parish volunteers and local associations, featuring Roman and Lazio cuisine and seafood specialties
• Musical evenings with dance orchestras, cover bands, and folk music
• Comedy and entertainment shows, often featuring artists from the Roman scene
• Games, inflatables, and workshops for children
• Stalls selling sweets, handicrafts, and local products along the festival route

All events are, as per tradition, free of charge.

Part of the Pomezia Summer

For several years, the Campo Ascolano festival has been included in the Pomezia Summer program, the summer calendar promoted by the City of Pomezia that gathers over seventy free events between late June and September, distributed between the city center, Torvaianica, and the surrounding districts. Alongside Campo Ascolano, the Pomezia territory also celebrates Saint Joseph the Worker in Martin Pescatore, Saint Anthony of Padua in Santa Palomba, and the Feast of the Assumption with the sea procession in Torvaianica on August 15th: a small circuit of patronal feasts that well reflects the composite identity of a municipality born from the reclamation of the Agro Pontino and grown through its various districts.

Why it is worth visiting

It is not a major tourist event and has no spectacular ambitions: that is exactly its value. Those spending a few days on holiday on the coast south of Rome will find an authentic festival in Campo Ascolano, where you can eat well at a low price, dance in the square, and breathe in the most familiar dimension of the Roman summer. The proximity to the sea and the pine forest makes it easy to combine a day at the beach with an evening at the festival, and its location—just over thirty kilometers from Rome—makes it accessible even for a single evening.