Porchettiamo – Italy's Porchetta Festival, now in its sixteenth year, is moving to Todi from May 22nd to 24th. It's a popular tradition that spans Italy from north to south. For an entire weekend, Todi will become the perfect stage to welcome master porchetta makers from all over Italy, chefs, producers, food trucks, artisans of taste, and enthusiasts.
A significant, symbolic, and strategic change of location from San Terenziano di Gualdo Cattaneo, still in Umbria, where the event originated years ago, for one of the most anticipated food events of the year. The format remains the same that has captivated thousands of visitors over the years: three days dedicated to artisanal Italian porchetta, quality street food, conviviality, and popular food culture. But the context is changing, expanding, and renewing itself, with new spaces and new offerings.
Porchettiamo was created to showcase porchetta in all its forms and traditions, but above all to showcase the people who make it a defining product: artisans, farmers, and local communities. A food rooted in rural culture, it has become a symbol of celebration, sharing, and belonging.
A true delicacy of Italian culinary tradition, it offers the palate an inimitable explosion of flavors and tastes. We're talking about porchetta, one of the most renowned traditional products of Lazio and the central regions, successfully marketed throughout Italy and renowned even abroad. The undisputed star of all local festivals and celebrations, this gastronomic specialty has a long, millennia-old history that makes it even more unique, even though its origins are claimed by multiple regions.
The inhabitants of Ariccia, in Lazio, boast that this specialty dates back to pre-Roman times and the Latin population. According to popular belief, Roman nobility would relocate during the summer to the hills of Ariccia, where they often organized hunting parties and hosted sumptuous banquets. Even Emperor Nero was said to have been among its enthusiasts.
But Umbria also claims historical paternity, claiming its origins in Norcia, famous since Roman times for its pig farming (hence the noun "norcino"). And in Umbria, in Costano, a hamlet of 782 inhabitants in the municipality of Bastia Umbra in the province of Perugia, an inimitable porchetta is still produced today, attracting many enthusiasts. The town's "porchettai" (pork roasters) have proudly passed down this craft for 500 years.
We still find strong porchetta traditions in Campli, in the province of Teramo, in Abruzzo.
Its fame has also gone beyond the borders of Italy: it was elected by the New York Times as one of the 5 best foods in the world, and in Canada, prize competitions are organized to celebrate it.
The heart of the Todi event will be the Piazza delle Porchette, where you can taste Italy's finest porchetta: from Umbrian porchetta to the finest regional creations, blending tradition and innovation. Alongside the producers' stands, there will be gourmet sandwiches by chefs, street food, craft beers, local wines, insights, and talks, for a program designed to engage everyone: families, enthusiasts, and producers.
The organizers state, "The move to Todi represents a choice that looks to the future without forgetting its roots. A new home capable of offering new opportunities and an even more national and international reach. The same authentic spirit, the same popular soul, but with many new features that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. Porchettiamo is an event that has grown over the years while remaining true to itself: never trendy, always popular, never predictable, always authentic. The change of location is a great challenge but also a great opportunity. Todi will allow us to begin a new phase of the festival, maintaining the format that audiences love intact and introducing new experiences, new collaborations, new formats, and variations that will further enhance the product."
