Sagras (Food Festivals) in Sicily, Italy
Sicily food festivals are discussed here, but also the information we gathered about sagras in general is at the bottom of the page. Since we did not find a source that easily captured all the sagras in Sicily, we hope this helps our fellow travelers!
Sagras or harvest festivals are produce-based festivals held by various small towns all over Sicily (and the rest of Italy) from September to October. If there is something grown or made in Sicily, there's a festival for it: prickly pear fruit, honey, porcini mushrooms, pistachios, wine, olive oil, walnuts... The festivals occur on weekends (and occasionally Fridays - check the dates) throughout the autumn. Some occur over multiple weekends.
We partially planned our trip based on when and where some sagras were. We did three sagras over a 3-day weekend of Oct. 2-4, 2026 - on Friday, Oct. 2, we went to the Sagra del Pistacchio di Bronte (link to 2026 event; Facebook page to the city of Bronte); on Saturday, Oct. 3, we went to La Festa della Noce di Motta Camastra (link to official 2026 announcement and schedule), and on Sunday, Oct. 4, we went to Ottobrata Zafferanese in Zafferana Etnea (where we were also staying) (official link).
This was a really fun sagra, and exactly what we hoped for when we planned our Sicily tour with Sagras in mind. Motta Camastra is a town perched on top of a mountain. It's the kind of town that people imagine when they think of a quaint Sicily that time forgot (or maybe a town from the movies Cinema Paradiso or Il Postino) - lots of curving cobblestone pedestrian paths and roads throughout town, beautiful houses that are falling apart or have been restored to their original glory, small restaurants around every corner with tables spilling out onto the road, and all the townspeople out and about in a leisurely way. This is hyper-local and super cute.
The sagra itself was not that big. It was quaint. There are several small squares in the center of town where anywhere from 5-7 stands were set up, and maybe 30 stands or homes opened for business along the main street (Corso Umberto I). But the stands were interesting and varied - cheese and meat (both raw and prepared), honey, hand-made linen, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice (so good!!), and many kinds of walnut products including pastries and breads, walnut chocolates and cannoli, pasta, and walnut pesto, and walnut liquor. At every stand we stopped, we talked to the vendors. Along the route, the local high school band went back and forth playing marching music; when they stopped, several men playing Sicilian instruments serenaded us and walked the same route. The various sweets we tried were all good, and some were really good. We were excited to find mostarda di uva (grape must pudding), which is a special fall dessert. We had arancini with pumpkin and walnut, which was the only time we saw this filling during our Italy trip and it was a really good filling. We saw maybe 10 tourists total (Europeans) but otherwise it seemed to be mostly townspeople or from nearby.
The videos below: the drive THROUGH town. Follow our instructions so you can park below town; traditional musicians; town square; a local resident who invented the walnut cracker (he showed us his certificate of patent). This cracker is sold throughout the region, but if you buy it from him, he will inscribe it with a personal message if you like.
I had used AI to help me figure out a few logistics (e.g., parking, routes, etc.) and AI was entirely wrong with all aspects. Fortunately, it was relatively straightforward to find parking in the morning on the north side of town along Via XX Settembre, near Piazza Croce. I did not approach the town from the North, however, as I suggest you do. Instead, as you can see in the video above, I had to drive through town. The locals seemed unfazed by our presence in the car, even though the band and all the vendors were setting up. They eventually closed this entry to the town. Map yourself instead to Via XX Settembre, and then use GoogleMaps directions - this will take on the back route behind town. Look for parking along Via XX Settembre before the last hairpin turn. When we left in mid-afternoon, there were still some spots available.
Ottobrata Zafferanese (Zafferana Etnea)
This is a large sagra that happens every Sunday in October, and each Sunday features a different food. In 2026, the first weekend featured wine, followed by honey, apples, and finishing with walnuts/chestnuts. In other years, porcini is a feature of the festival, but you can find it fresh in the restaurants in October regardless, and it's a special treat. (We recommend the fresh porcini salad at Hosteria Il Porcino in Zafferana central town). For information about Zafferana Etnea town beyond the sagra, visit our blog page Mt. Etna Sicily
Here is the 2026 schedule and map. The town center is closed to traffic. Our hotel was in the hillside above the town center, so we could walk into the festival.
We were surprised that for a week supposedly dedicated to wine, there was not really any information about wine, and we found only 2 places specifically offering wine: one local shop that merely opened his shop for tasting, and one small card table hidden amidst the secondary street of souvenirs. In the town center, there is a special food offered, and for this week it was risotto with white and red grapes on top. In subsequent weeks, the risotto will be mixed with the other feature foods.
This is, however, a location to find the wine-related mostarda di uva, grape must pudding. (They also had the same pudding made from prickly pear cactus fruit). It is sold in small cups, or a firmer version in a mould of dried fruit paste. There were about 4 stands selling these, along with other fruit and vegetables and preserves.
The subsequent weeks are supposed to focus on honey, apples, mushrooms, and chestnuts. All of these items were available from many sellers during "wine week." Zafferana is the city of honey, so there were many, many honey purveyors. Chestnuts were roasting at 2 shops, and fresh ones available elsewhere. Porcini and other mushrooms in fresh and preserved forms are available everywhere, and apples are plentiful. There were also several stands with local (none-wine) alcohols. If you want pistachio liquor, for example, you need to buy it on the Eastern side of Sicily. If you'd like a free lunch based only on cheese, sausage, and alcohol, there are enough free samples here! The cheese was delicious.
For travelers who are aiming for a particular weekend of the Ottobratta expecting a highlight for a certain food, our guess is that it doesn't matter which weekend you pick.
Below: vendors for cheese and salami are generous with samples, and everything is delicious. Traditional desserts are abundant. Preserved fruits, vegetables and fungi are sold in many different forms for 5-8 Euros. Olive oil vendors, alcohol, honey, and fresh fruit are also on show. We included a photo of the crowds on the main street; it was quite busy.
There are many food stands. There was one pasta place, serving 3 types of pasta sauce and making risotto (first photo) The food for sale is mostly sausage and horse meatballs, plus desserts. It is fun to watch the chefs brushing the hot grills with a bouquet of oregano dipped in olive oil. We found a restaurant off to the side with sautéed broccoli rabe, sautéed fresh porcini, and thinly-sliced grilled beef. Note that some restaurants close in the evening, even if they are normally open on Sunday nights. We thought we would reserve a table at Il Porcino. They were really packed during lunch and planned to close for dinner. We ordered their fresh porcini salad to go so we could have it for dinner at the hotel.
On the western side of Mt. Etna, Bronte is located in a Mediterranean/chaparral environment. Driving there feels like driving through parts of California, including various succulents, and dry, brown fields with a few lush green trees.
This was a big sagra with a lot of tourists, though attending on a Friday meant there were a lot fewer than on the weekend (apparently a lot of people drive up from Catania). Although there were a lot of stands along the main street, most of them seemed to be selling the same 3-5 items - pistachio creme, pistachio pesto, pistachio liqueur and sometimes pistachio butter. If you plan to attend, we recommend driving towards the festival and parking on or near Via de Luca Cardinale or Via Orlando Vittorio Emanuele. We read that there is a parking lot with a shuttle, but we did not see any shuttles functioning and the parking lot was a 26 min walk uphill.
Schedule of Sagres / Food Festivals in Italy (including in Tuscany, Sicily, Calabria, Albruzzo)
Comments