Sagra del Pesce 2023

Sagra del Pesce 2023 will take place on Sunday, May 14, 2023, in the beautiful fishing town of Camogli.

On the evening before the festival, a religious celebration is held in honor of San Fortunato (Saint Fortunatus), known as Festa di San Fortunato, with bonfires and an impressive fireworks display.

Sagra del Pesce (Fish Festival) is a popular feast dedicated to San Fortunato, the patron saint of fishermen, held every year on the second Sunday of May, in Camogli.

On this occasion, the square that overlooks the small Port of Camogli, Piazza Cristoforo Colombo, is filled with people waiting to see, to smell and, last but not least, to taste the star of the festival – the fish.

On this day, about 30,000 fish portions are prepared in a large frying pan made of stainless steel, almost 4 meters in diameter, with a 6-meter handle, weighing about 28 tons, and with a capacity of about 2000 liters. The fish is then offered to the public, for a small contribution of 6€, and all the funds raised are donated to charity.

SHORT HISTORY

Sagra del Pesce was held for the first time in 1952, to celebrate the patron saint of fishermen, San Fortunato. Since then, the feast was held every year on the second Sunday of May.

In the early years, the fish was fried in small pans. In 1954, the pans were replaced by a single large pan, which, over time, become the symbol of the festival.

In 1960, a pan of 5 meters in diameter was introduced. The pan was placed on scaffolding built on the seabed of the port, and became one of the main attractions of the town.

Since the 1980s, the two large pans used in the first years of the feast are displayed on the wall of Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, near Largo Luigi Simonetti.