Food Festivals

The cuisine and wine on the island of Ischia are real areas of excellence and there are plenty of opportunities to give them a try. In fact, all year round the various municipalities host a series of food festivals and outdoor events where good food and local produce from Ischia is the star feature, obviously accompanied by music and traditional dancing.

The unmissable events include “Andar per cantine”, which takes place in September over the course of several days and involves all the municipalities on the island to some extent. It offers a chance to visit the oldest wineries, taste the house wine and other good things such as bread and tomato, artisanal cold meats and home-made cakes.

Another unmissable food festival is the " Festa di San Nicola all’Epomeo", celebrated on 6 December. This interesting event combines hiking, folklore, devotion and food. The food festival takes place at midday in the parvise of the island’s highest church, the church of San Nicola in Serrara Fontana on Mount Epomeo. The venue is only accessible by foot or on horseback. After mass and the procession of the statue of St Nicholas, you eat bread and meatballs, sausages and friarielli (broccoli raab), roast chestnuts and good Serrara Fontana wine.

Held between Christmas and New Year (the date changes each year), the Presepe Vivente di Campagnano (Campagnano Living Nativity Scene) is another gourmet event where you can enjoy some delicious food in this hillside village on Ischia. The village is transformed and taken back in time, with hundreds of figures in costume intent on ancient trades throughout every corner of Campagnano. There is all sorts of food and wine to try: from pizza to pasta, mulled wine, homemade cakes, sausages in buns and a selection of traditional recipes from Ischia.

Ischia’s food festivals do not end here. It would be impossible to list them all, but we have to mention the Sagra Agostana di Serrara Fontana, which takes place in the evening and is one of the oldest food festivals on the island.