Festivals and traditions of Monte Porzio Catone: the town's year

Monte Porzio Catone is a small town, but its year has a few fixed events, with flowers, saints, wine and sweets. These are the ones the sources mention, with all the caution they need: dates change from year to year and the programme is decided by the organisers.

April: the orchids

The first big event is Orchidee dal Mondo, the international orchid show and market founded in 1996: for a weekend in mid April, nurseries from around the world exhibit in the tinelli, the old cellars of the old town.

September: Sant’Antonino Martire

The town’s patron saint is Sant’Antonino Martire, Saint Antoninus the Martyr, and his day is 2 September. Around that date the celebrations take up almost three weeks, from the end of August to the middle of September. The programme changes every year; the 2025 one gives an idea of how it goes:

• The novena. On the nine days before the feast, prayers at the main church.
• The eve, 1 September. A procession with the blessing of the water, food stands and dancing in the square.
• 2 September. Bells rung in celebration in the morning, mass and then the solemn procession through the streets with the band. In the evening a show in Piazza Borghese and fireworks.
• The days after. The dinner of the town’s districts, the dinner of the Confraternity of Sant’Antonino, concerts, exhibitions at the Ephebeum, the closing tombola and, to finish, the giro del Tuscolo and a lunch of fettuccine con le rigaje, pasta with chicken giblets.

The organisers include the Pro Loco and the Confraternity of Sant’Antonino, which in 2025 celebrated 254 years. The cult is old in the town too: a record in the national catalogue of cultural heritage notes that the “little church” of Sant’Antonino is first mentioned in the apostolic visit of 1680. Today there is the Oratory of Sant’Antonino, where the closing concert was held in 2025.

Autumn: Ottobre in Festa

In autumn the town holds Ottobre in Festa, which tourist guides describe as its most important food and wine event: it celebrates local produce and combines it with culture. We have not found official dates or the name of the organiser, so we refer you to the channels of the town council and the Pro Loco.

It is the right time to understand why the town is called a “Città del Vino”, a wine town: there are vineyards, wineries and wine bars, and the Wine Museum explains how the wine of the Castelli is made.

December: the torchlight procession and nativity scenes

On 8 December, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a tourist guide mentions a torchlight procession with the Madonna of Lourdes. The town’s events also include nativity scene exhibitions.

The typical sweets

Among the sweets of local tradition the sources mention manine, made of puff pastry and custard, and serpette. Among the sweets of the Castelli, ciambelline al vino, wine biscuits to dip in your glass, are another tradition of the area.

How to find out more

Festival dates change every year. The sources recommend checking the website of the Comune di Monte Porzio Catone and the channels of the Pro Loco. We do not list them here so as not to publish the wrong dates.

In short

• Mid April: Orchidee dal Mondo, international orchid show, since 1996.
• 2 September: Sant’Antonino Martire, the patron saint; the celebrations run from late August to mid September.
• Autumn: Ottobre in Festa, food, wine and culture.
• 8 December: torchlight procession with the Madonna of Lourdes; nativity scene exhibitions.
• Sweets: manine of puff pastry and custard, serpette, ciambelline al vino.