Santa Maria di Loreto Festival

The patron saint of the City of the Air

The Santa Maria di Loreto Festival is the most cherished event in the civil and religious calendar of Guidonia Montecelio, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Rome, in the Lazio region. The Madonna of Loreto is no ordinary patron saint: proclaimed the protector of aviators, she is deeply intertwined with the history of Guidonia, a city founded in the 1930s around its airport and aeronautical research centers. It is no coincidence that the parish church, built in 1938 to a design by architect Gino Cancellotti and overlooking Piazza Lauretana, is the heart around which the entire festival revolves.

Two days between faith and street life

The festival structure is well-established and takes place over a weekend in September. The religious aspect, which remains the core of the event, is concentrated on Sunday morning: the solemn Mass in honor of the Blessed Virgin of Loreto, followed immediately by the procession that departs from Piazza Lauretana and winds through the city's main arteries—Via Chiorboli, Via Lunardi, Via Umberto Maddalena, Viale dell'Unione, Viale Roma, and Viale Leonardo da Vinci—before returning to the starting point. It is a parade that brings together confraternities, the faithful, and curious onlookers, giving the city a different rhythm for a few hours.

Stalls, markets, and pedestrian streets

The civil program unfolds alongside the liturgical one. Along the central streets, food and wine stalls are set up alongside booths selling all kinds of goods: local products from the Tiburtino area, sweets, handicrafts, and clothing. In the 2025 edition, there were over fifty exhibitors, with an organizing committee formed by 64 merchants with businesses on Viale Roma, Viale dell'Unione, Via Umberto Maddalena, and Via Visintini. This formula transforms the center into a large pedestrian area for two days, directly involving the city's commercial fabric.

Music and laughter in the square

The evenings are dedicated to free outdoor performances designed for an intergenerational audience: live music with tribute acts and revivals—in 2025, the Notti Magiche concert was dedicated to the hits of the nineties—and cabaret, featuring comedians well-known to the Lazio public, such as Alberto Farina. In previous years, other famous television comedians have performed. Shows generally begin around 9:30 PM and attract thousands of people.

Why visit

• An authentic festival: no tourist re-enactments, but the celebration that the people of Guidonia create for themselves.
• Free admission: the procession, market, and evening shows are free; you only pay for what you consume at the stalls.
• A stone's throw from Tivoli: you can combine the day with a visit to Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana, both UNESCO World Heritage sites located just a few kilometers away.
• The village of Montecelio: the historic hamlet of the municipality, perched on the hill, is worth a detour at sunset.

A growing event

Since 2025, the organization of the civil program has been handled by the Guidonia Merchants Association, chaired by Antonella Carfora, under the patronage of the Municipality: a choice that has given new momentum to the event, which was later replicated with Christmas events in the center. However, the festival maintains its popular character, with the Franciscan friars' parish continuing to oversee the liturgical side. Visitors from outside will find a city that, for a weekend, showcases its own identity: that of a young community, born around flight, which has chosen as its symbol the Madonna who protects those who fly.