Porcini Mushroom Festival in Oriolo Romano 2026: two weekends at the table, 11-13 & 18-20 September

There is one weekend — two, in fact — when an entire village in Tuscia smells of the forest floor. On 11, 12 and 13 and then 18, 19 and 20 September 2026 the Sagra del Fungo Porcino returns to Oriolo Romano for its twenty-first edition: six days at the table in Piazza Giorgio Santacroce, with the bulk of Palazzo Altieri as a backdrop and porcini mushrooms in every form the local kitchen knows. It is the festival that opens Tuscia's autumn of good food, and one of the most eagerly awaited in the whole province of Viterbo.

A village that truly believes in its porcini

Oriolo Romano did not pick the porcino out of fashion. The village sits on the edge of the Monte Raschio beech forest, in the Bracciano-Martignano nature park: a forest so special — it grows at unusually low altitudes — that since 2017 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage site, part of the listing of Europe's ancient beech forests. And where there are beeches and damp woods, porcini are at home. The festival is run by the Associazione Culturale Oriolo Romano with the backing of the town council, and over twenty years it has become the event that closes the summer: you eat outdoors, in the square, for as long as the evenings allow.

What you eat

The declared queen of the feast is fettuccine with porcini mushrooms, rolled out properly and dressed without shyness. Around it, a menu that reads like a small treatise on the mushroom: fettuccine with meat-and-porcini ragù, porcini and bean soup, bruschette with porcini cream, roast pork with porcini, fried porcini — and for anyone who prefers the grill, chops and sausages over the coals. There is also a gluten-free menu, Friday to Sunday: not something to take for granted at a village sagra.

When to go and how it works

The stands open for lunch at 12:30 and for dinner at 19:00; on Fridays, dinner only. The evenings bring music and entertainment, the afternoons games and activities for children. A tip from people who know their sagre: Friday evening is the quietest moment, Sunday lunch the busiest — and the square, beautiful as it is, is not infinite. Arrive unhurried and hungry.

While you are there: the village and the beech forest

Oriolo Romano deserves a visit in its own right. It is a «founded» town, created in 1560 at the will of Giorgio Santacroce — the festival square bears his name — with a regular street plan you can still read as you stroll. Over it all watches Palazzo Altieri, built between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, today a museum with its Gallery of the Popes. And before dinner, in the right light, a walk in the Monte Raschio beech forest is the best way to earn your fettuccine: you walk in the shade of monumental beeches, in the very wood the festival takes its scent from.

Where to stay: your base in Tuscia

Villa Vacanze Valentina is in Bassano in Teverina, on the other side of the province: Oriolo Romano is just under an hour's drive, passing Viterbo. It makes the perfect outing within a September holiday — the sweetest month to be in Tuscia: the beech forest in the afternoon, the sagra in the evening, and the drive back to the silence of the countryside, with the pool still open. The two apartments in the villa sleep up to 4 guests each; for open dates write to us or take a look at the holiday home with pool. All the season's other feasts are in our calendar of events and festivals in Tuscia.

Dates, times and dishes checked in September 2026 on sagraoriolo.it and the channels of the Associazione Culturale Oriolo Romano: a glance at the official programme before setting out is always wise. Cover image: an atmospheric illustration created for our blog.