
August is Abruzzo at full tilt: mountain sagre, seaside festivals, medieval pageants, and bustling open-cellar trails around a town or a small village piazza. Whether you’ve retired out here, are tracing your roots to these hills, over for the summer or a born-and-bred local, there’s something this month with your name on it. Browse what’s on below and filter by type, area or week to find yours.
August Events: Out and About in Abruzzo
- Calici di Stelle, across Abruzzo
This is the summer's great wine-under-the-stars event, run by the Movimento Turismo del Vino. This year 25 Abruzzo wineries put on 63 separate evenings of tastings, vineyard dinners, live music, and stargazing across all four provinces, from Loreto Aprutino and Villamagna to Navelli, Rocca San Giovanni, and Fossacesia.
- Sagra del Timballo Teramano
Seven big evenings for the region's great layered feast-day dish, the timballo teramano, in a frazione of Campli; the area's flagship timballo festival.
- Festival Internazionale di Mezza Estate, Tagliacozzo
This is the cultural heavyweight of the Marsican summer, and it fills the whole month. Now in its 42nd edition and dedicated this year to Saint Francis, 800 years after his death, the festival gathers music, dance, theatre, and talks in the cloister of San Francesco and the piazzas of one of Marsica's loveliest towns.
- Mostra dei Vini di Montepagano (Baccano), Roseto degli Abruzzi
Roseto degli Abruzzi's own wine festival takes place not on the busy seafront but up in Montepagano, the town's medieval hilltop frazione, where it has run since 1972.
- Domenica al Museo
Free entry to state museums and archaeological parks across Italy, including MuNDA in the castle and the Amiternum park outside L'Aquila.
- Palio della Balestra, Popoli Terme
The old spa town at the head of the Pescara valley holds its 21st Palio della Balestra and the Certame della Contea di Popoli, a historical crossbow contest fought out between costumed companies, with medieval pageantry through the heart of the centre.
- Pecure allu cutture
Mutton slow-stewed the old shepherds' way in one of Italy's most beautiful villages, below the Maiella.
- Fara Cipollara
An onion festival in the town better known for its January fire-canes.
- Magna Majella
A taste of the mountain kitchen in a quiet town below the Maiella, beside the ruins of the abbey of San Liberatore.
- Sagra del Pane Casereccio
Wood-oven country bread to open the month in the Teramo hills.
- Sagra del Timballo
The same beloved layered timballo in a smaller hill-town setting below the Gran Sasso.
- Abbazie Summer Festival finale, Abbazia di San Giovanni ad Insulam
The province of Teramo's remarkable Abbazie Summer Festival stages world-class jazz and soul in the Romanesque abbeys and cloisters of the Teramo hills.
- Sagra Pipindune e Ove
Peppers and eggs, a humble Vestina classic, in the hills above Pescara.
- Festa della Birra
A week of beer, music, and food in a lively Vestina town.
- Festa della Birra, Pianella
A lively week of beer, music, and food in a Vestina hill town above Pescara (also listed among the Foodies sagre).
- I monti che suonano, Gran Sasso
The Solisti Aquilani take their instruments up the mountain for this magical series of musical walks. You set off mid-afternoon with a guide, climb to a high meadow, and are met by a chamber concert in the open air, followed by a tasting of local produce.
- Sagra del Maccheroncino di Saragolla
A full week for the local pasta made from ancient Saragolla wheat, near Sant'Omero.
- Una Notte a Buenos Aires, San Vito Chietino
On the D'Annunzio coast, the Belvedere Marconi at San Vito Chietino turns Argentine for a night. A free open-air evening of tango begins at 7.
- Cena Conviviale nel Borgo
One of the loveliest communal feasts on the Maiella: an itinerant sagra through the lanes of the woodcarvers' village, its whole historic centre turned into a single long shared table of old local flavours. Nearby, the Majelletta plateau above the town hosts the Maiella Summer Festival and a fine Notte di San Lorenzo.
- Valfino al Canto, Arsita
High in the Fino valley below the Gran Sasso, the tiny village of Arsita hosts one of Abruzzo's best-loved traditional-music festivals, celebrating its 30th edition this year with folk and world-music groups from across Italy and beyond.
- Festival dell'Arrosticino, Villa Celiera
Arrosticini, the little mutton skewers grilled over the canaletta, are the signature dish of the whole region, and this small town on the edge of the Gran Sasso national park throws a weekend entirely in their honour.
- Pecorino & Pecorini
A festival for the rare Pecorino di Farindola, the only cheese in the world made with pig's rennet, on the Gran Sasso's eastern slopes.
- Sagra del Prosciutto Abruzzese e Festival del Du'bbotte, Basciano
Five evenings in the Teramo hills devoted to Abruzzese prosciutto, paired with the sound of the du'bbotte, the local double-chantered bagpipe that gives the festival its name.
- The Notte di San Lorenzo, everywhere with a dark sky
The night of San Lorenzo, when the Perseid meteor shower peaks, is made for Abruzzo's high, dark skies. Head up onto the Campo Imperatore plain, the Altopiano delle Rocche, or the Piana di Navelli, spread a blanket, and watch for the "tears of San Lorenzo.
- Festival del Peperoncino Piccante
Chilli in every form, in a hill town near Chieti.
- Pineto Music Festival, Pineto
On the northern coast, this festival brings contemporary music to the pinewoods and the seafront, an easy, breezy evening out for those staying near Pineto and Roseto.
- Sagra dei Cavatelli
Handmade cavatelli high in the Trigno valley.
- Sagra della Trippa
The Marsican take on tripe, in a Fucino-plain village.
- Cookery Class in Atessa with Max and Gabrielle
Join Max and Gabrielle in her Atessa kitchen for a hands-on morning making pallotte cacio e uova, cheesy egg balls simmered in tomato sauce, and hand-cut chitarrina pasta on a homemade wooden chitarra. Classes run in Italian and English with a splash of dialect, a relaxed way to practise your conversation while mastering regional recipes.
- Le Ruelle di lu Paese
The lanes of the old town given over to the flavours and crafts of the transumanza, the shepherds' migration.
- Tartufo Re, Torrebruna
High in the Alto Vastese, one of Abruzzo's most out-of-the-way corners, tiny Torrebruna crowns the summer truffle king for five days.
- Festa dî Squacciafichere
The fig sweet of a proud Sangro-valley town.
- Sagra del Porcino
Porcini mushrooms from the surrounding woods, in the hills above the Turano valley.
- Ju Catenacce, Scanno
On the eve of Ferragosto, the mountain jewel of Scanno stages Ju Catenacce, a re-enactment of an 18th-century wedding procession. Women parade in the town's extraordinary black costume, weighed down with the heavy filigree gold jewellery for which Scanno's goldsmiths have long been famous.
- Sagra della Ventricina
The famous spiced salami of the Vastese, in its own small heartland.
- Ferragosto Selvatico, Arsita
An open-fire grill night in the hills above Arsita: traditional Abruzzese grilled meats and seasonal vegetables, cold beers, and three DJs keeping the dancing going into the night. Tables by reservation, with free camping on request.
- Ferragosto feasts across the villages
The feast of the Assumption fills the calendar. At Caramanico Terme, women balance cone-shaped baskets of anise wafers on their heads for Maria SS.
- Palio delle Pupe, Cappelle sul Tavo
A gloriously strange Ferragosto tradition: enormous papier-mâché "pupe," female figures rigged with fireworks, are danced through the streets by a performer hidden inside as firecrackers crackle around them. It's loud, bright, and completely unforgettable for children and adults alike.
- Palio del Barone, Tortoreto Alto
This is one of the finest historical pageants on the coast, and a magical night for children. The medieval hilltop town of Tortoreto Alto is given over to a Corteo Storico of more than 400 costumed figures, led by stilt-walkers and drummers and joined by flag-throwers, acrobats, jesters, falconers, and fire-eaters.
- Sagra del Gambero e della Trota
The 67th edition of the river-prawn and trout festival, in the old spa town at the head of the Pescara valley.
- San Rocco, in villages across the region
The plague saint San Rocco is honoured on the 16th in dozens of towns.
- Spoltore Ensemble, Spoltore
Just inland from Pescara, the hill town of Spoltore hosts its Ensemble festival for the 44th year, five evenings of music, dance, theatre, and cabaret staged across the piazzas of the historic borgo.
- Sagra della Croccante
The almond brittle of a tiny Marsican hamlet, made the traditional way.
- Sagra delle 'Ndrocchie
Hand-cut pasta ribbons in the Vastese hills.
- Fuochi a Mare di San Franco, Francavilla al Mare
Francavilla honours its patron San Franco with one of the biggest fireworks nights on the whole coast.
- Renaissance parade for Vittoria Colonna, Pescocostanzo
The elegant highland town of Pescocostanzo, another of the Borghi più Belli d'Italia, dresses in Renaissance costume to honour the poet Vittoria Colonna, its one-time lady, with a costumed procession and period performances in one of the loveliest historic centres in the Apennines.
- Sagra ijju Cerijje
A cherry festival in the highest municipality in the Apennines, cool relief on the Altopiano delle Rocche.
- Sagra dell'Arrosticino e del Formaggio Fritto
Skewers and fried cheese in a frazione in the shadow of the region's highest peak; nearby Casale San Nicola holds its own Sagra della Pecora alla Callara, slow-cooked mutton from the copper cauldron, later in the month.
- Muntagninjazz, mountain villages of central Abruzzo
For its 20th year, this much-loved festival threads jazz through the mountain borghi and green spaces of central Abruzzo, pairing concerts with guided walks and outdoor life, music and nature hand in hand.
- Sagra della Mortadella alla Brace
Grilled mortadella in a hamlet of Castelli, the famous ceramics town.
- Festival del Peperone Dolce di Altino
The sweet dried pepper, a Slow Food presidium, celebrated in its home village above the Aventino.
- John Fante Festival, Torricella Peligna
The mountain village that gave the world the ancestors of the Italian-American writer John Fante honours him each August with a literary festival of readings, music, and talks. It's a thoughtful, atmospheric few days in the high Maiella foothills, well worth the drive.
- Perdonanza Celestiniana
The 731st edition of the world's oldest Jubilee of forgiveness: a thousand-strong medieval procession, the opening of the Holy Door at Collemaggio, and a floodlit programme of music and dance.
- Sagra dei Ceci e dello Zafferano, Navelli
Navelli sits on a high plain famous for two things: its chickpeas and its saffron, the precious Zafferano dell'Aquila DOP hand-picked each autumn from purple crocus fields.
- Sagra della Capra alla Neretese
The slow-cooked goat of the Val Vibrata, a proud local speciality.
- Sagra della Porchetta Lentellese
Roast pork the Trigno-valley way, in a small border village.
- Sagra delle Fregnacce ed Arrosticini
Hand-rolled egg pasta and mutton skewers in the Teramo interior.
- Strà Festival degli Artisti di Strada, Collecorvino
Away from the coast, up in the Vestina hills above Pescara, the little town of Collecorvino turns its piazzas and old streets into open-air stages for two evenings of street theatre.
- I Caldoreschi, Pacentro
One of Italy's most beautiful villages, below the Maiella, travels back to 1450 for six days, re-enacting the recruitment of the men-at-arms of the condottiero Antonio Caldora.
- Sagra della Porchetta Italica, Campli
Nearly a week of porchetta, the whole roast pork perfumed with rosemary and wild fennel, in a medieval borgo that is one of the Borghi più Belli d'Italia.
- Rievocazione Storica del Toson d'Oro, Vasto
Down on the southern coast, the handsome old town of Vasto turns back the clock to the 18th century for the Toson d'Oro, a Baroque re-enactment centred on the noble d'Avalos family and the Order of the Golden Fleece.
- San Bartolomeo in the mountains, Roccamorice and Carpineto della Nora
In the Maiella villages, the feast of San Bartolomeo means a mountain pilgrimage: at Roccamorice, worshippers gather spring water at the rock-cut hermitage and carry the saint's statuette up the mountain path, while Carpineto della Nora climbs to its ancient abbey for a day of prayer and picnicking in the meadows.
- Claudio Baglioni farewell tour
The Italian great brings his farewell tour to Lanciano on the 29th and L'Aquila on the 30th, closing the city's biggest week.
- Suoni sul Lago Folk Festival, Barrea
Deep in the national park, on the shore of Lake Barrea, this folk festival brings traditional and world music to one of the most beautiful mountain settings in Abruzzo. The lake, the woods, and the medieval village make the music feel like part of the landscape.
- Sagra della Pappardella al Sugo di Papera
Pappardelle in a rich duck sauce, in the frazione crowned by its medieval tower.
- Fermenti d'Abruzzo, Pescara
The region's flagship craft-beer festival closes the month on Pescara's marina, now in its 11th edition. Around 40 Abruzzese breweries pour their best alongside Mediterranean street food, tastings, workshops, and live music each evening, right on the waterfront. It's the perfect end-of-summer send-off.
- Sagra della Patata
The mountain potato of the Gran Sasso plains closes the month near the Rocca Calascio road.
- A Cena con i Bizantini, Castello Ducale di Crecchio
The ducal castle at Crecchio, home to the museum of Byzantine and early medieval Abruzzo, is known for its torchlit banquets that carry you back to the courts of the sixth century, with costumed figures and period dishes inside the ancient walls. If a summer edition runs, book ahead through the Pro Loco.
- A corner worth the drive: Lake Barrea and the Alto Sangro
The string of stone villages around Lake Barrea, deep in the south-west of the region in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, is one of the loveliest corners of Italy, and one of the least forthcoming about what's on; it's genuinely worth the drive, and worth asking around once you arrive.
- A village worth the trip: Goriano Sicoli
Tucked into the Valle Peligna on the old Rome railway line, tiny Goriano Sicoli throws itself into August with more heart than towns ten times its size, and it's well worth pointing the car towards to lend it your support. The food is reason enough.
- Abbazia di San Clemente a Casauria, Castiglione a Casauria
One of the greatest Romanesque monuments in Abruzzo, this ninth-century abbey in the Pescara valley is a masterpiece of carved stone, from its triple-arched portico to the great sculpted portal and the ambo inside.
- Abbazia di San Giovanni in Venere, Fossacesia
One of the loveliest sights on the whole coast: a great twelfth-century Benedictine abbey standing among olive groves on a headland above the Costa dei Trabocchi, with its carved Portale della Luna and frescoed apses looking out to sea.
- Ai Weiwei, Aftershock, MAXXI L'Aquila
More than seventy works by one of today's leading artists fill a palace restored after the 2009 earthquake, a fitting meeting of art and the city's rebuilding story, and a strong reason to visit L'Aquila this summer.
- Aperibirra al Castello di Roccascalegna, Roccascalegna
Roccascalegna's castle clings to a rocky spur above the village, one of the region's most photographed sights. On these evenings you can join a guided tour and then head down to the craft brewery below for tastings and local food, an easy, relaxed way to visit in the cool of the night.
- Bear country on foot, PNALM
Summer is a fine time to walk the habitat of the Marsican brown bear in the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park, often with a stop at a wildlife area where you can safely see the bears. These outings suit families with children of six or seven and up. Start early to beat the midday heat.
- Borghi of the Vestina hills
Loreto Aprutino, Penne, and Città Sant'Angelo, three of the province's loveliest hill towns, fill their calendars with wine soirées, patronal feasts, and open-air evenings all month; Loreto Aprutino is also a Calici di Stelle host. Check each comune's page for dates.
- Canoe on the Tirino and a day as a shepherd, Capestrano, Bussi and Barrea
The Tirino is reckoned the clearest river in Abruzzo, and gentle canoe trips run all summer through its spring-fed oasis from Capestrano and Bussi sul Tirino, easy enough for children; the Il Bosso cooperative at Capestrano is a good place to start (its own Espressioni Artistiche festival of jazz and starlit dinners falls a touch earlier, on 23 and 24 July).
- Caramanico Terme and the Maiella
One of the Borghi più Belli d'Italia, this handsome spa town on the western Maiella is a Pescara-province gem: a base for walks into the wild Orfento valley reserve by day, and a surprisingly lively little cultural hub by night. August is packed.
- Castel di Sangro and the Alto Sangro
The lively little capital of the Alto Sangro, with its handsome baroque centre below the Civitella hill, is the gateway to the high valleys between the Maiella and the national park, and a fine cool-air base in the heat.
- Coastal festival nights, along the coast
The seaside towns keep their own summer programmes running right through the month. Pescara's arena at the Porto Turistico is the busiest venue, with pop, indie, and tribute nights most evenings, and Francavilla al Mare, Roseto, and Giulianova all stage open-air music of their own.
- Concerti all'Alba, Torre di Cerrano
There's nothing quite like a concert at daybreak on an empty beach. Beneath the 16th-century watchtower of Cerrano, in the heart of a marine protected area, this series wakes early for sunrise concerts as the light comes up over the Adriatic, everything from string quartets and jazz to gentle acoustic sets.
- Estate Sulmonese, Sulmona
Ovid's elegant home town, ringed by the Maiella and famous for its confetti sugared almonds, turns itself into a "city of music" for the summer, with some ninety concerts, theatre nights and cultural events filling Corso Ovidio and the piazzas.
- Family workshops, Museo delle Genti d'Abruzzo, Pescara
The museum runs hands-on workshops, from wool-felting to cheese-making, alongside its exhibits on pastoral life. It's a cool, calm way for children to learn where Abruzzo's food comes from, and a good plan for a scorching afternoon.
- Festival delle Birre, Castellalto
Castellalto, the "balcone d'Abruzzo" poised between the mountains and the sea, gives its whole historic centre over to a beer festival, with Italian and international craft brews, street food, and live music and DJs spread across four squares.
- Gara del Solco Dritto, Rocca di Mezzo
On the Altopiano delle Rocche, teams of ploughmen race through the night to cut the straightest furrow by dawn, steering by a light on the church tower. It's a moving survival of the farming year, and a rare thing to witness.
- Historical processions the whole family will love
August is full of costumed pageants that thrill children, from the drummers, stilt-walkers, and burning tower of the Palio del Barone at Tortoreto Alto (16 August) to the medieval camp of I Caldoreschi at Pacentro (19 to 24 August), the Renaissance parade at Pescocostanzo (around 18 August), Vasto's Baroque Toson d'Oro (around 23 to 25 August), and the great Mastrogiurato medieval week at Lanciano at the very end of the month.
- Il Mastrogiurato, Lanciano
The grandest pageant of the Abruzzese summer, and an international event in its own right.
- L'Aquila, Italian Capital of Culture 2026
The rebuilt capital is Italy's Capital of Culture this year, with I Cantieri dell'Immaginario running to 6 August and a citywide programme of concerts, theatre and dance.
- Miracolo del Lupo, Villamagna
A vivid piece of folk theatre, performed entirely by men in the old tradition, re-enacting how Saint Dominic the Abbot rescued a stolen child from a wolf. It's the summer companion to the town's May celebration, and a window onto a very old way of telling a sacred story.
- MuNDA highlights, L'Aquila
The Museo Nazionale d'Abruzzo is showing exceptional loaned works this year, including Antonello da Messina's Ecce Homo and Raphael's Visitation from the Prado. Check the museum's confirmed dates before planning a visit around them.
- Notte del Saltarello, Castel Castagna
A joyous night given over to the saltarello, the whirling traditional dance of central Abruzzo, and its cousins the pizzica and quadriglia, held each summer beside the beautiful Romanesque abbey of Santa Maria di Ronzano in the Teramo hills.
- Palazzi Aperti, L'Aquila
Once a month the city opens its historic palaces, often free or at low cost, a relaxed way to see corners of L'Aquila that most visitors miss.
- Pescara's museums and galleries
On the coast, Pescara's Imago Museum and CLAP Museum stay open through August, with the CLAP's tribute to the comic artist Andrea Pazienza running into late September. They make a cool, quiet refuge when the beach gets too hot.
- San Martino Borgo di Vino, San Martino sulla Marrucina
This small hill town in the Marrucino wine country opens its lanes for a wine festival on the cusp of July and August, with cellars, tastings, and food among the old stone houses. It's a gentle, local way to toast the vintage to come.
- Santuario del Volto Santo, Manoppello
In the Pescara-province hills, the basilica of Manoppello guards the Volto Santo, a mysterious veil bearing the faint image of a man's face that has drawn pilgrims for centuries; Pope Benedict XVI came here in 2006.
- Santuario della Madonna dei Miracoli, Casalbordino
A vast Marian sanctuary on the Vastese coast, a place of pilgrimage since a farmer's vision in 1576 and a setting in D'Annunzio's writing.
- Silvi Marina summer nights, Silvi
The Blue Flag resort of Silvi Marina lines its seafront with open-air concerts and shows all month, among them Michele Zarrillo in Piazza dei Pini on 6 August and the Diorama Festival at Le Dune on 28 August, while medieval Silvi Alta on the hill above keeps the view and the quiet.
- Sunset to Rocca Calascio, Santo Stefano di Sessanio
Guided evening walks set off at sunset from Santo Stefano di Sessanio, climb to Rocca Calascio, the highest castle in the Apennines, and return by torchlight. In the August heat this cool-of-the-evening approach to the high Gran Sasso is by far the most comfortable, and the light on the stone is unforgettable.
- Teramo, the Roman city of the north
The quietly handsome provincial capital below the Laga and Gran Sasso rewards a wander.
- The Costa dei Trabocchi and the Via Verde, the Chieti coast
The old coastal railway has become a flat, green cycling and walking path, running past the trabocchi, the wooden fishing platforms that give this coast its name. August is the busiest time of all, so ride or walk early, then settle in for a long seafood lunch on a trabocco out over the water.
- The archaeological museums of Chieti
Chieti, the ancient Teate, holds two of the region's great archaeological collections.
- The big coastal concerts, the Pescara coast
The seafront stages, above all the arena at Montesilvano, string together one headline night after another.
- The far-northern Laga: itinerant festivals up to Lake Campotosto
Right in the far north of the region, the villages of the Monti della Laga are among the quietest and least-known in Abruzzo, and a dedicated band of volunteers works hard to bring them to life.
- VOCES, Castello Piccolomini, Celano
The great Piccolomini castle above the Fucino plain is one of the settings for VOCES, a series of site-specific theatre and music running from spring into September. The performances bring local history to life, from the draining of Lake Fucino to the Roman ruins at nearby Alba Fucens.
- Vigneti Aperti, across Abruzzo
Alongside Calici di Stelle, the Movimento Turismo del Vino's Vigneti Aperti programme keeps cellar doors open through August for visits, vineyard walks, and tastings, from the Colline Teramane in the north to Casauria in the centre. Choose a winery, book in advance, and spend a slow afternoon among the vines.
- The School of Narrative Dance, MAXXI L'Aquila
Marinella Senatore's exuberant participatory project turns L'Aquila into a stage, with banners, processions and community performance radiating out from MAXXI's Palazzo Ardinghelli into the streets of the Capital of Culture.
- Convergenze e continuità, Palazzo ONMI, L'Aquila
An absorbing look at how Abruzzo rebuilt and reimagined its towns between 1930 and 1960, told through architecture, drawings and photographs at Palazzo ONMI.
- straperetana X, Pereto
The tenth edition of this much-loved contemporary-art show scattered through the streets and palazzi of the tiny borgo of Pereto in the Marsica - catch it before it closes mid-month.
- Ugo La Pietra. Alla Finestra, Fondazione La Rocca, Pescara
A major retrospective of the restless designer-artist Ugo La Pietra, some seventy works turning on the threshold between private and public space.
- Cenacoli e Pittura, IMAGO Museum, Pescara
At Pescara's flagship IMAGO Museum - home to Scandinavian Impressionists of the Civita d'Antino school and modern masters - nineteenth-century European painting gathered across three great artistic centres.
- Progetto Genesi, Castelbasso
In the beautiful hill-village of Castelbasso, contemporary art on human rights and the urgent questions of our time fills Palazzo Clemente and Palazzo De Sanctis.
- Silvia Mantellini Faieta. Atlante, Guardiagrele
A site-specific installation in handsome Guardiagrele that opens the gallery out into a boundless imagined landscape, by Abruzzo-born artist Silvia Mantellini Faieta.
- Weekend al Museo - Genti d'Abruzzo, Pescara
The Museum of the Peoples of Abruzzo runs family visits and hands-on workshops through the summer. On 8 August, 'C'era una volta Pescara…' takes children aged 6+ on a storytelling trail through the old town and both museums (booking essential).
- Il Volto dell'Invisibile, IMAGO Museum, Pescara
IMAGO's summer blockbuster: 'The Face of the Invisible' unpicks the mystery of the Holy Face of Manoppello across art, history, faith and science. Curator Marco Bussagli gathers manuscripts, paintings and sculpture - among them a Michelangelo crucifix - a short drive from the Volto Santo sanctuary itself.