Cinque Terre Region Events

The calendar here is made of village saints’ days and harvests rather than anything staged, and each of the five keeps its own.

The lemon festival, Monterosso, May

Built around the village’s own crop, with stalls, lemon food and a procession. Small, local, and a good indication of what Monterosso is when it is not a beach.

The anchovy festival, Monterosso, September

The other Monterosso festival, celebrating the salted anchovies the village is known for. Both of these are producer events rather than performances.

Village patron saints, through the summer

Each village marks its own: among them San Lorenzo at Manarola on 10 August, and Santa Margherita at Vernazza in July, usually with a procession, a boat blessing and fireworks over the water. These are the nights the villages belong to their residents.

The Manarola nativity, December to January

An enormous illuminated nativity scene is laid out across the hillside above Manarola, made from reclaimed material and lit through the Christmas period. It is the one thing that draws visitors in deep winter.

The harvest

Grapes come off the terraces in September, carried down by monorail. It is not an event, but it is when the landscape makes sense.