Trevinano Will Host Its First Slow Move Fest in June

Trevinano, a small hamlet of Acquapendente in northern Lazio, will host the first Slow Move Fest from June 26 to June 28, an event centered on slow tourism in Italy’s inland areas with more than 50 free activities tied to food, wine, nature, culture and family travel.

The festival is being organized by Slow Food Viterbo e Tuscia for the municipality of Acquapendente as part of the Ri-Wind project, which is financed through Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan under NextGenerationEU. Organizers say the aim is to turn Trevinano into a lasting workshop for slow tourism and local regeneration in small villages that often sit outside the main tourism circuits.

Trevinano’s location is central to that pitch. The village lies in the Alta Tuscia area at the meeting point of Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany, along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route. That border setting has long shaped its food culture, with influences from all three regions reflected in local wines, legumes, cheeses, cured meats and traditional cooking.

The program combines outdoor excursions with tastings, workshops and public discussions about rural development. Activities are grouped into five areas: flavors, talks and performances, photography, excursions and children’s events. Most require advance booking through the festival website, while some street performances and food offerings are open access.

Among the food and wine events are guided tastings of wines from the borderlands, a session on natural wines led by Alessio Pietrobattista, Lazio coordinator for the Slow Wine guide, and several itinerant tasting routes through Trevinano’s streets and squares featuring local producers. Other culinary events include a workshop on legumes from the Alta Tuscia area, with attention to products such as lentils from Onano and beans from Gradoli, Valentano, San Lorenzo Nuovo and Acquapendente, as well as a tasting focused on meats and cheeses from extensive livestock farming.

One of the closing wine-related events will focus on Uva Greca Puntinata, a rare grape variety tied to research and valorization work under the Trevinano Ri-Wind project. That session is scheduled to include a guided tasting by Carlo Zucchetti and Aldo Lorenzoni and a presentation linked to a book on rare Italian grape varieties.

The festival also gives a prominent role to Iside De Cesare, the chef behind La Parolina restaurant in Trevinano. She is scheduled to take part in the presentation of a new book on Trevinano’s landholdings and food traditions at the opening of the festival. On the final day she is also expected to present plans for an international cooking school project in the village.

Outdoor programming will unfold largely in and around the Monte Rufeno Nature Reserve. Planned activities include walking excursions by day and night, cycling routes at different difficulty levels, horseback riding, yoga sessions at sunrise and sunset, forest bathing and visits to the Monte Rufeno astronomical observatory. One hike will lead participants to the marker where Lazio, Umbria and Tuscany meet.

Nearby heritage sites are also part of the schedule. Guided visits are planned in Acquapendente, including tours focused on the Via Francigena, local ceramics and the town’s historic center. Other visits will take place at Torre Alfina Castle, Proceno Castle, the Bosco del Sasseto woodland and Acquapendente’s civic and diocesan museum.

Photography is another major strand of the event. Landscape photographer Andrea Burla will lead a sunset and blue-hour workshop, while photojournalist Paolo Marchetti is scheduled to conduct a documentary photography workshop over two days on how to narrate territory and community through images. Organizers have also launched a digital photo contest tied to the festival, with selected images set to become part of a distributed exhibition next year.

For children, the program includes workshops on biodiversity and natural pigments, cheesemaking and handmade gnocchi. Evening entertainment will feature folk music, street artists and open-air performances in Trevinano’s historic center.

Beyond leisure activities, Slow Move Fest will also serve as a forum for discussing tourism policy in rural Italy. A master class on slow tourism in inland areas is expected to bring together local officials, academics and development specialists to examine both fragility and opportunity in these territories. Another meeting will focus on community cooperatives and their role in local development.

All festival activities are free to attend with reservation, though some meals carry a separate charge. Organizers said registrations close up to 24 hours before each activity and are subject to availability.