Comacchio Eel Festival

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Comacchio, the colorful lagoon town mirrored in its canals among monumental bridges and narrow lanes, has for centuries paid homage to its greatest treasure: the Valleys and Eels.

Born on 13 islands nestled between lagoons and valleys, it has been able to live in great balance with an immense natural heritage in the heart of the Po Delta. A hostile territory, however, that never failed to provide a livelihood for its people through the development of an art in valliculture and fishing.

Since 1999, it has hosted the Sagra dell’Anguilla, a food and wine event organized with a dense network of associations and territorial realities with the aim of telling the story of traditions, values and the close connection between man and the Po Delta. A balance that is fundamental to the very subsistence and preservation of the Eel, a fish that still holds many mysteries, such as its long journey that it makes for its own reproduction. A real migration of more than 3 years from European countries to reach the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic. A journey that has united many local residents in the blackest moments of the past centuries.

For three weekends straddling the end of September and October, the town hosts a festival spread among the picturesque streets and the most distinguished buildings with exhibitions, performances, historical re-enactments, valliculture workshops, thematic excursions, cultural meetings and environmental conferences. Of course, the focus is on the table, with traditional recipe contests, star chefs as guests of the Slow-Food Presidium and many opportunities to taste the delicacies of the sea and the Comacchio Valleys.