Ficurì Prickly Pear Festival in Cinisi

The story

"Ficurì – I scuzzulati di Piano Tavole" is the festival with which Cinisi, a town just west of Palermo, celebrates the prickly pears grown at Piano Tavole, within its municipal area. The name comes from "scuzzulatura", the growing technique that makes this fruit special: known in Italian as scozzolatura, it means removing the plant's first flowering so that a second, later one follows, producing bigger, firmer fruit that ripens in autumn. That's why the festival is held at the end of October, when the summer prickly pears are long gone.

The first edition, on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October 2024, was launched at the Palazzo dei Benedettini, the town hall, by mayor Vera Abbate. The council organized it with the Pro Loco 2.zero, local growers, the Euroform school and the Asadin association, thanks to a grant from the Sicilian Region to promote small towns. Corso Umberto I became a trail of craft stalls, a photo exhibition about the area, an open-air art contest and cooking shows by Sicilian chefs such as Gianvito Gaglio, Santi Palazzolo and Nicola Serra.

The second edition, on 25 and 26 October 2025, added workshops on new uses for the fruit and a first regional prickly pear cocktail competition. The third takes place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October 2026, again on Corso Umberto I, with tastings, cooking shows, traditional street games, a Vespa parade and a round-table talk called "Meli, manna e ficurigna", a nod to the Sicilian poet Giovanni Meli, who worked as the town doctor in Cinisi from 1767.

Schedule

• 24 October 2026, at 17:30 Craft and food area, children's area and the "Piano Tavole" photo exhibition open; round-table talk on the third edition at the stage of the "F. P. Abbate" public library
• 24 October 2026, at 18:30 Tasting of Piano Tavole prickly pears at the stands, dance show and a cooking demo of the Ficurì pizza
• 24 October 2026, at 19:00 AperiFicurì, a prickly pear aperitivo, with a DJ set in the festival area
• 24 October 2026, at 21:00 Wine & Rock Unplugged, live music
• 25 October 2026, at 10:30 Stands and exhibition reopen; Ficurì breakfast with prickly pear cassatella pastries and a display of classic Fiat 500s
• 25 October 2026, at 11:30 Cooking demo of savory Ficurì cassatelle; at noon, prickly pear tasting and a cooking demo of Ficurì pasta
• 25 October 2026, at 14:30 "La prova del fico": new ways of cooking with prickly pears, with chef Gianvito Gaglio
• 25 October 2026, at 16:00 "Vespa in corso", a Vespa parade by the Vespa Club Montelepre
• 25 October 2026, at 17:00 Round-table talk "Meli, manna e ficurigna" at the public library stage
• 25 October 2026, at 18:00 "La prova del fico": jams and bread, presented by the local shopkeepers' and artisans' association

What to eat

The star is the Piano Tavole prickly pear, served fresh at the tasting stands. The 2026 programme also works it into sweet and savory dishes: prickly pear cassatella pastries at the Ficurì breakfast, savory cassatelle, Ficurì pasta and pizza made at the cooking shows, and jams with bread at "La prova del fico".

During the festival, several bars, pizzerias and street food spots in town serve special prickly pear recipes, from arancina rice balls and the Ficurì sandwich to prickly pear gelo pudding and gelato, and even a "scuzzulata" eggplant parmigiana.

Getting there

The festival takes place on Corso Umberto I in the center of Cinisi. Palermo Airport is about 14 km away, roughly ten minutes by car; by train, get off at Cinisi-Terrasini station on the Palermo-Trapani line.

How to get to Cinisi: full guide