Wheat Festival

The Wheat Festival at Masseria Feudo

The Wheat Festival is an event dedicated to rural heritage, held in San Giorgio Ionico, in the heart of the province of Taranto, Puglia. The setting is the evocative Masseria Feudo, located along the provincial road to Roccaforzata, where freshly harvested wheat fields become the natural stage for an evening that blends tradition, gastronomy, and community.

Traditional harvesting

The most anticipated moment of the festival is the demonstration of scythe harvesting, an ancient practice that the village elders perform once again before the curious eyes of the younger generations. The harvested stalks are tied into sheaves and transported on a horse-drawn cart, while children participate in the gathering, reliving the slow rhythms of field work. Wheat is celebrated as a symbol of abundance and fertility, a deep root of the Mediterranean culture of the Ionian territory.

Music, pizzica, and folk songs

Salento's musical tradition brings the entire evening to life. Folk songs accompany the field work, while the pizzica sweeps the audience away with its frantic rhythms, previously performed by the Compagnia Areté. The traditional dance, combined with live music, transforms the farmhouse courtyard into a place of collective celebration where the community of San Giorgio Ionico gathers around its roots.

Workshops and zero-mile flavors

A large space is dedicated to food and wine workshops: the preparation of bread, orecchiette, and gnocchi involves both adults and children, while stands for tasting local products are set up in the courtyard. Local bakeries present bread decorated with the town's coat of arms, alongside organic specialties and delicacies of the peasant tradition. There is also an acrobatic pizza freestyle show, with dough tossed to the rhythm of music.

A festival for families

The Wheat Festival is also designed for children, with themed creative workshops, parades of children in wheat-inspired costumes, and moments dedicated to raising awareness about healthy eating. Free admission and the family atmosphere make this event one of the most defining initiatives of the Municipality of San Giorgio Ionico, promoted by the Isonomia APS Association with the patronage of GAL Magna Grecia and the involvement of the Pro Loco and local associations.