The Fish Festival of Camogli 2024, May 10-11-12
Every month on these pages, we present a summary of the most interesting events in Genoa and
Liguria, to suggest various activities to boaters who choose berths in our marina:
exhibitions, fairs, sporting events, workshops, and yes, even food festivals. And certainly among the most
important festivals in May in Liguria is the famous Camogli Fish Festival, which takes place every year
in the seaside village of Golfo Paradiso, on the Ligurian Riviera di Levante. Among the brightly colored houses,
through the narrow streets and stairs, those days are always festive: here’s the program for the Camogli
Fish Festival 2024.
The Camogli Fish Festival: a long tradition
The Camogli Fish Festival has a very long tradition behind it: the first
edition was held in 1952, conceived by lawyer Filippo Degregori. Since then, this festival
has been repeated every year on the second Sunday of May: in 2024, therefore, the dates to mark on your
calendar are May 10, 11, and 12, from Friday to Sunday. Of course, over the years, this village festival
has grown considerably: consider that for the first edition, makeshift kitchens were simply built in
the square with bricks, where they continued to fry with only 6 pans all day long. Given the growing popularity of the festival, in 1954, the first famous
giant pan was introduced, weighing 11 quintals, with a diameter of 4 meters and a handle 6 meters long;
over the years, other pans have arrived, leading to a new stainless steel pan in 2001,
weighing 28 quintals, which can fry 30,000 plates of fish in a day,
using 3,000 liters of oil and 3 tons of fresh fish. On this note, an interesting fact: an
exact copy of this pan is also used on the other side of the world, in Yokohama.
The program of the Camogli Fish Festival 2024
Let’s now look at the program for the 72nd Camogli Fish Festival, organized by Pro Loco
Camogli in Piazza Colombo. It begins on Friday evening with a Ligurian-Cilento Evening at Largo Ido
Battistone, with a gastronomic stand run by the Pro Loco; at around 10 PM, there’s the flag-raising ceremony of
the Porto, Pinetto, and Rissêu Quarters.
On Saturday, May 11, the festival gets into full swing with the traditional San Fortunato Market, in Via XX
Settembre and Via della Repubblica; starting from 12 PM, the gastronomic stand reopens at Largo Ido
Battistone, while at 8:30 PM, you can witness the procession with the Ark of San Fortunato and
the Christs of the Genoese Confraternities, followed at 11:15 PM, at Rivo Giorgio, by the fireworks
display and the subsequent lighting of bonfires in the Porto, Pinetto, and Rissêu quarters.
Finally, on Sunday morning, the actual fish festival begins, starting with the
blessing of the pan and the fish, and at 10 AM sharp, with the frying and distribution of
fish, while Camogli will be simultaneously enlivened by the San Fortunato market and the stand at
Largo Ido Battistone.
An opportunity to visit Camogli and Genoa
The Camogli Fish Festival 2024 is a delicious opportunity to discover this stunning seaside
village, as well as to take advantage of the festival to visit Genoa, a maritime city that never
disappoints. Do you want to moor in the berths of our
