Small striped succulent plants in dark round pots on a wooden table, blurred indoor space in background Comune Labro

Experiencing Labro's chestnut festival on an Italian hilltop

Perched roughly 600 metres above the shimmering surface of Lake Piediluco, the village of Labro is a tightly woven cluster of stone houses, terracotta roofs and lichen-coloured arches that has watched centuries pass from its perch in Rieti Province. Each autumn, when the chestnut groves on the slopes below the town turn russet, the community gathers for a celebration that has become one of Lazio's most charming seasonal events. The Sagra della Castagna fills the medieval lanes with woodsmoke, music and the earthy perfume of roasting nuts.

For travellers flying in from Australia, the festival offers a rewarding counterpoint to seasonal rhythms back home. While Australians are enjoying spring blossoms in November, the Sabine hills around Labro are deep in their brief, brilliant autumn. Anyone who has attended the Bright Autumn Festival in Victoria's High Country, where chestnut trees line the Ovens Valley, will recognise the same reverence for the harvest, although the Italian version is wrapped in a much older set of customs. What follows is a practical guide to making the most of a few days in this corner of Lazio.

The hilltop village and its setting

Labro sits within the Parco Fluviale del Nera, a protected river corridor that stretches south toward Terni and the Umbrian border. The village itself is tiny, with a year-round population hovering near 350, yet its footprint feels larger than its size suggests. Three gates pierce the original walls, and two of them, Porta Conca and Porta del Sole, still carry the carved heraldry of the medieval lords who once controlled the road between Rieti and Spoleto.

Wandering the borgo takes no more than an afternoon, but most festival visitors stretch it into several days. The views from the belvedere at the top of the village stretch across Lake Piediluco toward the snow-dusted crests of Monte Terminillo, and on a clear morning the same panorama appears in the soft pink light of an Italian dawn. Locals often pause here at sunset to watch swifts slice the air above the chestnut canopy, a rhythm that has not changed in living memory.

When the celebration unfolds

The chestnut festival typically runs across a long weekend in late October, usually the final Sunday of the month and the days that frame it. Each year the town council, the pro loco and the local farmers' cooperative confirm dates in early autumn, and these are published on the municipal website along with the programme of dinners, concerts and guided walks. For Australians planning around a southern-hemisphere spring break, the timing is useful: it sits comfortably between the AFL grand final long weekend and the start of the exam season, making it an appealing option for a working holidaymaker adding a European detour.

The celebration gathers momentum across the weekend. Friday evening is usually a soft opening with producer stalls around Piazza della Repubblica, Saturday brings the largest gatherings and the busiest roasting pits, and Sunday closes with a communal lunch and an afternoon procession to the chestnut groves on the slopes below the walls.

What unfolds on the piazza

Central to the festival are three open roasting pits, locally called fuochi, where volunteers turn chestnuts over cast-iron pans using long wooden paddles. The nuts are gathered from the surrounding woods over the preceding weeks and cured in cool stone cellars known as cannici, which you can still find in many of the village's oldest homes. The aroma drifts up through the alleys and is often the first thing visitors notice as they climb from the parking area below the walls.

Beyond the food, the piazza hosts a rotating programme. On recent editions, this has included a folk band from the Reatine mountains performing pizzica and tarantella, a craft market selling hand-turned olive-wood utensils, and quiet corners where older residents demonstrate the art of weaving chestnut leaves into decorative braids, a craft once used to mark the harvest season in rural Lazio. Families sit on benches with paper cones of hot nuts, while children run between stalls selling mulled wine and the local frittelle di ricotta.

How chestnuts shape local food and drink

Chestnuts are woven through almost every dish of the festival weekend. The most traditional preparation is the caldarrosta, a chestnut roasted in its shell until the skin splits, eaten with fingers and dusted in salt. Equally beloved is the castagnaccio, a dense, faintly sweet cake made from chestnut flour, pine nuts, raisins and a drizzle of olive oil, which pairs beautifully with a glass of the local Grechetto.

The local preparations worth seeking out at the festival stalls:

The growers who supply the festival are mostly small family operations running across the neighbouring hills. Many of them sell directly from a wooden trestle, accept cash only and are happy to chat about the year's harvest. Buying from them is the most direct way to support the village's rural economy.

Walks, wildlife and stargazing around Labro

The chestnut grove is only the beginning of what the surrounding landscape offers. Just below the village, a marked path descends through mixed woodland toward the lake, with viewing platforms where herons can be spotted fishing in the shallows. Walking back takes roughly ninety minutes at an unhurried pace and reveals a different facet of the country at every turn.

For visitors who bring binoculars or a camera, it pays to keep movements slow and stay on the marked tracks. Photographers drawn to the Sabine hills often share the same ethical concerns raised elsewhere in the travel world; a thoughtful read on mindful wildlife observation offers useful framing for staying low-impact, no matter the species or the country. The point is to leave the birds, the trees and the lakeshore exactly as you found them.

Above the lake, the Terminillo range offers longer hikes in warmer weather, while at night, the village itself is a recognised dark-sky pocket. The municipal website lists occasional astronomy evenings tied to the festival weekend, when local guides set up telescopes on the terrace behind the church of San Nicola. Australians used to the brilliant skies above the Kimberley or the arid plains west of Alice Springs may find the Labro sky different in colour but no less generous with its stars.

Practicalities for Australian travellers

Reaching Labro from Australia means flying into Rome Fiumicino or, less commonly, into Rome Ciampino with a low-cost carrier. From Fiumicino, a rental car covers the 130 kilometres north in roughly two hours along the A1 and the SS79 highway toward Terni. Trains run from Fiumicino to Terni with a change at Roma Termini, and a small regional bus continues toward Labro, though services thin out on Sunday afternoons.

A few practicalities to sort out before departure:

For the journey up to the village, here is a quick comparison of the most common routes:

Option Travel time from Rome Convenience Best for
Rental car via A1 and SS79 About 2 hours High, flexible stops Travellers with 3 or more days
Train to Terni then regional bus 2.5 to 3 hours Moderate Solo travellers without a licence
Private transfer from Rome About 2 hours Very high Small groups or families

Booking accommodation in Labro itself is limited, so many visitors stay in nearby Piediluco, which has small hotels and a couple of agriturismi with chestnut-themed dinners. Mortelle, a guesthouse on the lower lane of the village, is often fully booked within weeks of the dates being announced.

Finally, embrace the slower pace of the piazza. The festival rewards travellers who arrive with time to linger, chat with the roasting crew and follow a musician into a side street for an impromptu tarantella. A weekend spent at this unhurried tempo leaves visitors with a richer sense of place than any rushed day trip could offer.