Giglio Events & Festivals

Traditional festivals, concerts, theatre and sports events, as well as workshops

The Island of Giglio is rich in traditional festivals and summer events, including concerts, food festivals, theatrical performances, children’s workshops, excursions, and sports competitions. For a complete overview of all scheduled events please check our online events calendar (see button below).

The most important events on Giglio continue to be the festivals in honor of the patron saints of the three villages: San Lorenzo in Giglio Porto (August 10), San Rocco in Giglio Campese (August 16), and San Mamiliano in Giglio Castello (September 15), who is also the patron saint of the entire island.

For several years now, the wine festival “Festa dell’Uva e delle Cantine” has taken place on the last weekend of September, enjoying great popularity and already becoming a small tradition.

Traditional celebrations of the patron saints

Recurring Cultural and Culinary Events

Every year Giglio, the Festival Island, hosts major music festivals, theatrical performances, photographic exhibitions, folkloric events and the Grape and Cellar festival which usually takes place in September on the occasion of the grape harvest.

Tavoli intonro al pozzo della Chiesa alla Festa dell'Uva e delle Cantine Aperte a Giglio Castello

Dolci alla Festa dell'Uva e delle Cantine Aperte a Giglio Castello

Tavoli nella Rocca Pisana alla Festa dell'Uva e delle Cantine Aperte a Giglio Castello

Band alla Festa dell'Uva e delle Cantine Aperte a Giglio Castello

Wine Festival

For about ten years the “Festa dell’Uva e delle Cantine Aperte” takes place during the last weekend of September on the occasion of the grape harvest In every corner of the charming village of Giglio Castello you can taste the food and wine excellences of the island of Giglio and the evenings are animated with traveling music. Thanks to its success – it is one of the most important and participatory festivals on the island of Giglio – it has become a sort of small tradition.

The Theater of Giglio

The association “Il Teatro del Giglio” was created in 1995 by Pietro Buttarelli and since then every summer a new theatrical performance has been presented. Currently the direction is curated by Andrea Giannoni who creates small masterpieces with great public success. Some of the works staged are: The wedding, The bear, A marriage question, The anniversary, Bertoldo, Miles Gloriosus, Doctor by force, Pinocchio, Lysistrata, The Decameron, La Mandragola, L’elisir d’amore, Sleeping Beauty, Pluto, The Turk in the cellar, Parenti serpenti and Lo scaldaletto.

Spettacolo teatrale Parenti Serpenti 2018 - Teatro dell'Isola del Giglio

Attori in costume dello spettacolo Un turco in cantina

Spettacolo La Vedova Allegra - Giglio Festival Estivo

Spettacolo L'Esir d'Amore - Giglio Festival Estivo

Spettacolo Carmina Burana - Giglio Festival Estivo

The Giglio is Opera Festival

The summer festival of lyric and symphonic music “Giglio è Lirica” is of great prestige: an annual event organized for more than 10 years by the Associazione l’Arte in Scena under the artistic direction of Gianni Mongiardino.

The festival includes among the repertoire works such as Elisir d’Amore (Donizetti), Cavalleria Rusticana (MAscagni), Rigoletto (Verdi), La vedova allegra (Lehar), Carmina Burana (Orff) and classical concerts by Schubert, Beethoven, Mozart.

Other Traditional Appointments

Commemoration of S.Mamiliano dei Turchi

Giglio Castello, Novembre 18th
The patron saint of the island, San Mamiliano, is commemorated twice a year. On 15 September, the anniversary of his death, there is the “Festa di San Mamiliano” (see above), and on 18 November there is a mass and procession “San Mamiliano il Turco” (San Mamiliano the Turk) to commemorate the last pirate attack in 1799: according to legend, the Gigliesi prayed to the saint during the attack by 2,000 Tunisians, and a sudden and unexpected storm forced the besiegers to return to their ships.

Nenia di Capodanno

Giglio Castello, January 1st
Among the popular traditions, the New Year’s lullaby is the most lively, thanks to the originality of the lyrics, some of which have been handed down orally for centuries. As the New Year dawns, a group of young musicians go from house to house singing a serenade to wish good luck, ask for blessings and praise the beauty of the owners. The lullaby ends with a waltz composed by local musicians.

Preseppe Subacqueo

Giglio Campese, December 25th
Underwater nativity scene in Giglio Campese, procession accompanied by the band, followed by a concert of traditional Christmas carols in the church of Giglio Castello.