Santa Barbara Fair

An entire city at the fair

December 4th in Rieti is no ordinary day. It is the feast of Santa Barbara, the patron saint of the city and diocese, and with it comes the most anticipated fair of the year in the Rieti province, in the Lazio region. Schools close, families head out early, and the city center transforms into a vast corridor of stalls stretching across entire neighborhoods. It is a collective ritual that has been repeated for centuries and continues to draw visitors from the entire Valle Santa and neighboring provinces.

The fair route

The fair follows a well-established route, defined each year by the Municipality of Rieti in coordination with the local police. Stalls are distributed across:

• Viale Ludovico Maraini, from the intersection with Via Porrara and Via Di Benedetto up to Micioccoli
• Via L. Di Benedetto and Piazza Angelucci
• Via Molino della Salce and Via Fratelli Cervi
• Piazzale Foro Boario, where multi-row arrangements are permitted
• Lungovelino Don Giovanni Olivieri

Licensed vendors must occupy their spots by 8:00 AM; remaining spaces are assigned to "spuntisti" (itinerant vendors) according to the municipal ranking. Parking bans and traffic closures are enforced in these areas from the early hours of December 3rd until midnight on December 4th.

What to find at the stalls

The goods are typical of large Italian popular fairs: clothing and footwear, linens, household tools, toys, plants and flowers, sweets, and dried fruits. There is no shortage of food stalls featuring typical products from the Rieti area—cured meats, mountain cheeses, local legumes, and Sabine olive oil—alongside nougat, roasted chestnuts, and the first artisanal panettone. Its proximity to Advent makes the fair the traditional occasion for early Christmas shopping.

Devotion and ceremonies

Beyond the commercial aspect, December 4th marks a deeply felt religious and civic calendar. Santa Barbara is the patron saint of firefighters, miners, and sailors: the day begins with the laying of a laurel wreath at the monument dedicated to firefighters, followed by a Eucharistic celebration for the National Fire Corps. In the late afternoon, the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta hosts a solemn concelebration presided over by the Bishop of Rieti, while the city renews its homage in the chapel dedicated to the saint.

Music, lights, and atmosphere

The historic center is accompanied throughout the day by local brass bands, which parade between Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and Piazza Cesare Battisti. One of the most evocative moments is the switching on of the holiday lights on the Velino river in the late afternoon: the lights reflecting on the water officially mark the start of the festive season in Rieti.

A fair recognized as heritage

In December 2024, the Lazio Region added the Santa Barbara Fair—along with those of Saint Lucy (December 13th) and Saint Anthony (June 13th)—to the Regional List of Historic Fairs. This recognition certifies its continuity over time and opens access to funding for the promotion and preservation of these events. The three Rieti fairs descend from ancient gatherings of itinerant merchants: once primarily an opportunity for farmers from the Valle Santa to trade agricultural products and livestock, they remain the city's largest collective event today.

Why visit

Those arriving in Rieti on December 3rd or 4th find much more than an extraordinary market: they find a city telling its own story. It is the ideal opportunity to combine the fair with the discovery of the medieval historic center, the Roman undergrounds of the Viadotto, the Roman Bridge, and the Cathedral restored after the 2016 earthquake. We recommend arriving early in the morning, when the stalls open and the cold air of the Rieti basin mingles with the scent of roasted chestnuts.