Mangi e Bevi
Be Nourished: an immersion of food, wine and connection
Farmers, Flavor, Festa: Traditional Foodways of the Madonie Mountains
OCTOBER 22–29, 2026
Taste Sicily Like Never Before
Seven nights, eight days, endless flavors. Wander the Madonie mountains with shepherds, cheesemakers, and farmers. Feast, festa, and sip wines that taste like the very earth beneath your feet. Are you ready to be fully nourished—in community? Food, land and community is some good culture work.
What Is Mangi e Bevi?
Mangi e Bevi is a fully nourished, deeply immersive journey into the traditional and ancient foodways of the Madonie Mountains. Over seven nights and eight days, we’ll reconnect with the joy of good food, vibrant community, the rhythms of rural life, and a history of food culture + security of the oldest kind.
We’ll savor hyper-local, wild, hand made foods and explore Sicily’s oldest Arab market, meet farmers and tenders of olive trees, off-grid shepherds, and makers of all kinds— we’ll taste wines that capture the essence of red soil.
We’ll celebrate life
with a full flavor festival that happens only once a year, forge lifelong connections, and nourish ourselves in body, heart, and spirit.
This isn’t just a trip. It’s a celebration of Sicily, in its truest, wildest, most flavorful form.
Who Is This For?
This immersion is for anyone who:
Loves food, wine, and authentic, land based experiences in an autumn Sicilian flavor.
Wants to be nourished by the land and its people with not just flavor but stories.
Seeks hands-on learning with farmers, cheesemakers, and artisans.
Craves connection, community, and sensory adventure.
Respects culture and can be a good guest.
If your heart is ready for joy, laughter, indulgence, and deep connection—to flavor, land, and yourself—this is your invitation.
What Awaits You…
Wild Foods: Meander through nature with local farmers, gathering olives, mushrooms, and herbs to prepare and savor together.
Cheesemaking: Spend a day with a shepherd, learning the traditional mountain methods.
Market Tour: Explore Palermo’s oldest Arab market and dive into the city’s culinary sensual chaos.
Flavor Festa: Experience the Madonie Flavor Sagra in Petralia Sottana, a celebration of the region’s best foods — just ready for us out in the village streets.
Bread Baking: Learn the spells, prayers, and techniques from a master local baker.
Wine & Vineyards: Taste volcanic wines of Etna and Madonie, while trekking through vineyards and volcanic soils.
Some Places We’ll Explore
Etna: Trek the volcano (weather permitting) and taste the wines of this legendary land.
Petralia Sottana: Your home base, a gateway to the Madonie Mountains.
Piano Farina: Meet shepherds, spot wildlife, and discover mountain cheeses.
Scattered Villages: Experience the local flavors and wild nature of Sicily’s hidden corners.
Why This Journey Is Special
We created Mangi e Bevi to:
~ Immerse ourselves in authentic Sicilian food and drink.
~ Reconnect with joy, pleasure, and nourishment.
~ Support local farmers, makers, and the land that sustains us.
~ Offer a sensory, soul-deep adventure that you will remember forever.
We want you to experience Sicily in this real and joyful way.
Mangi e Bevi is for you if you seek an authentic Sicilian food experience — a true sensory experience —and of course, a really good time.
This is your invitation to pause, taste, laugh, learn, and simply be.
Only 8 spots available.
What’s Included
Accommodation: October 22–29
90% of all meals, including breakfasts
All in-immersion transport with licensed guide/driver
Comfortable, air-conditioned van
Local translator
All workshops, learning experiences, and natural park fees
Guided experiences with local farmers, shepherds, bakers, and winemakers
What’s Not Included
Flights
Pre-immersion accommodation (October 21) or post-immersion stay (October 29+)
Airport transfers to meeting point
A few dinners to explore the village independently
Personal expenses
SPACE LIMITED TO 8 GUESTS
All cultural lineages welcome.
Questions?
Learn about our cultural agreements here.
Learn about redistributing money in Sicily here.
Want to know which immersion is right for you? Click here.
Want support traveling before or after Radici immersions? Send us an email.
Your guides
MaryBeth Bonfiglio
MaryBeth, founder of Radici Siciliane, grew up 2nd generation Italian American — Sicani and Lucani, from Sicily and southern Italy as well as Masche from Northern Italy. She’s been encultured by Sicilian Americans her whole life- living in enclaves, being surrounded by the food, language and folk ways of her elders.
She created Radici Siciliane in 2018 after many solo pilgrimages to Sicily where she built deep relationships with the Sicilian people— and this changed her life.
She was called to reconnect others to the beautiful and magic of the island. Since then, she’s brought over 150 people to Sicily to be in joy and to travel differently. She works directly with the people, so they can share the history, flavors, and potent beauty of the island, authentically.Read her full bio here here.
Gemma Fanelli
Gemma Fanelli grew up on the Southside of Chicago with her seven siblings, immersed in her father’s Italian American roots. She learned to cook alongside her Nonna, helping prepare the family Sunday dinners held at the long dining table in the basement. Her family joked that she was a younger version of Nonna, a ‘little Nonna’. This is where Gemma’s love for hosting and gathering people to eat and drink began.
In 1990 her father brought her to his ancestral village in Pieve di Compito, Lucca, Toscana- and this changed her life.
The gift Nonna gave through her hands and the seed her father had planted in her heart, called her to share her Italy with her friends and community. She has hosted multiple trips to her ancestral village, at Casa Fanelli, her grandfather’s home. It brings her joy to share Italy, and now Sicily, with people who also believe in food and community.
Testimonials
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MaryBeth did such a beautiful job of accompanying the group of us into an open journey full of rich experiences.It has become a significant value along the path of discovering who I am. I felt a deep level of connection immediately to the land, and to the people drawn together with me.
~N.G., 2024
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Just come on the trip. If you’ve been thinking about it but you’re not sure you’ll fit in for whatever reason, take a chance - come on the trip. This island has so much to teach you if you are willing to receive it, and it’s will be a beautiful experience.
~S.N., 2024
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The spirit of the Sicilian people- warm, generous, exuberant, and resilient. Every experience was deeply embodied - I felt so connected to my flesh and blood, the land, the ancestors.
~A.S., 2024