Campo Imperatore 2023: A unique shepherd’s festival. More than a thousand sheep, a hundred Maremmano Abruzese, dozens of shepherds and thousands of tourists gathered at Campo Imperatore in the Gran Sasso National Park on 4th and 5th of August 2023. This national park promotes itself with the wolves and bears that have lived there for centuries. The shepherds tend their herds in the middle of the wolf packs. The Maremmano Abruzese are protected by dogs and shepherds without electric night pens, but are also guided across the pasture. There are at least 5-7 Maremmano per herd plus 1-2 herding dogs that move across the pastures with the shepherd during the day. We can only recommend everyone to visit this festival in the first week of August 2024 to get an insight into sheep farming and livestock protection in the middle of a wolf area with numerous wolves in the middle of the tourist area. The first documented mention of a Maremmano Abruzese dates back to the year 234.
