On 27th and 28th June Isola Comacina was the site of the oldest festival on the lake. Como prefect Corrado Conforto Galli told us what happened behind the scenes
Lake Como’s oldest festival was back again this year at the end of June. Sagra di San Giovanni took place on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June in the area of Isola Comacina, inaugurating the summer season in the central part of Lake Como. Most of the festival is on water and none of this would be possible without the Como prefecture as well as Navigazione’s boats. Corrado Conforto Galli, the Como capital’s prefect, knows this portion of the lake very well, having worked here for many years, including at the helm of the province’s civil protection service. ‘It’s always been one of the area’s most attractive festivals,’ he says, ‘attracting thousands of people, both residents of nearby towns as well as tourists. Numbers like these mean we have to reinforce the services which ensure everything goes smoothly, with the difference that we have to think of both land and water safety.’ In fact, behind the event is an organisational machine which has been consolidated over the years and written down in the regulations. ‘It is a festival which has always required an integrated police and local government approach,’ Galli explains. ‘Over the years we’ve developed a structured service which we’ve modified to meet the circumstances.’
The 2026 framework was drawn up at a meeting with all bodies involved: police forces, lake authorities, the tax police, the coastguard and the road and provincial police forces. The prefecture blocked road traffic from 8pm to midnight from Argegno to Menaggio and for vehicles over nine metres this road block began at 4pm southward from Ossuccio, with motorbikes allowed through. Health authorities and firefighters were placed in front of the island. On the water the key point is the boat traffic. ‘This year we blocked lake traffic from 7 to 9.45pm, with only boats already on site being allowed out, to foster boat transit’, says the prefect. ‘Once at their posts the police forces let in the private boats, in an orderly manner and in a way which is compatible with safety.’
The fires are designed to conjure up the 1169 fire when the people of Como allied with Federico Barbarossa against Milan and took Isola Comacina, razing it to the ground. This fire and music event began at 10.30 pm and lit up Zoca de l’Oli, the section of lake between the island and Ossuccio for around three quarters of an hour, with candlelit boats. The lights were visible all the way along the Tremezzina coast as far as Villa Balbianello and from the opposite side of the lake, from Lezzeno to Bellagio.
And then there was the religious side of the festival, on Sunday 28th, with a historical costume parade to the island and a mass held in the midst of the ruins of the Basilica di Sant’Eufemia church. In the afternoon it was the turn of the Lucie historical boat regatta. For the prefect the meaning of the festival goes well beyond the choreography. ‘The event’s historical and scenographic value is important because it is community building,’ he concludes, ‘enabling the institutions to work together on a complex project.’
