Yellow Pizza and Broccoli Rabe Festival

A historic festival during the Carnival weekend

The Yellow Pizza and Broccoli Rabe Festival — officially known as the "Historic Pizza, Broccoli Rabe, Fritters, and Sausage Festival" — is one of the most anticipated winter events in San Vito Romano, a village in the Monti Prenestini area within the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio. Established in the late 1990s, the event celebrated its 29th edition in 2026 and is traditionally held on the Carnival weekend, turning the Villa Comunale into a large village banquet.

Yellow pizza, a "little sun" of corn and broccoli rabe

The absolute star of the festival is the yellow pizza: a cornmeal-based flatbread — the polenta of the farmers of yesteryear — baked according to the traditional San Vito recipe and served with sautéed broccoli rabe. Its golden color has earned it the nickname "little sun" in local chronicles: a humble traditional dish that the village continues to pass down from generation to generation.

Fritters, sausages, and winter flavors

Alongside the yellow pizza, the festival menu offers other local dialect and culinary specialties:

• zazzicchie, grilled sausages;
• frittegli, broccoli fritters also known as "mazzoche";
• fritters with borage leaves, in versions with anchovies or mozzarella ("buragini");
• sautéed vegetables, traditional fried foods, and local wine from regional producers.

The kitchen is run by volunteers from local associations, with cooking teams that also involve young chefs from San Vito.

The bond with the San Vito Carnival

The festival has always been intertwined with the San Vito Carnival, which in 2026 ran from February 8th to 17th: parades of allegorical floats and masked groups through the village streets, accompanied by a marching band and majorettes, masquerade parties with DJ sets and group dances, the awarding of the best costumes, and, on Shrove Tuesday, the traditional burning of King Carnival at the Villa Comunale. The festival weekend is thus a double event: at the table with traditional dishes and on the street with the colors of Carnival.

The Villa Comunale, the heart of the celebration

The event takes place at the Villa Comunale in San Vito Romano, in a covered and heated structure surrounded by greenery: a solution that allows you to enjoy the party in full comfort even on the coldest days of February. The village, dominated by the Theodoli castle, is located about an hour from Rome and is an ideal destination for a winter trip blending taste and tradition.

Organization

The 2026 edition was organized by the San Vito Arte Association with the patronage of the Municipality of San Vito Romano; in previous editions, the festival was managed by the "Il Pellegrino" association in synergy with the Municipality and the local Pro Loco. A community effort that has made this festival one of the longest-running and most beloved in the Monti Prenestini and the entire province of Rome.