/Food & Wine Festivals in Italy that you don’t want to miss this Autumn

Food & Wine Festivals in Italy that you don’t want to miss this Autumn

It’s still a hot summer time here in Italy, but we all know that being a travel agent means always planning forward.

Soon our customers will come back from their vacations and will start asking us about ideas for their autumn break.

I particularly love this time of the year as, besides the melancholy of saying goodbye to beach side aperitifs and crazy summer nights, September is buzzling and full of energy. It comes with new projects, ideas… a new start!

In Italy autumn is full of events related to harvest time …grape, mushrooms, truffles.

Food and wine give us comfort and will make us forget about shorter and rainy days who are waiting just around the corner.

So why don’t offer a trip that will give the opportunity of taking part to these events?

Many people go to Italy for the art, history and culture but all of these aspects are tied to food. Thanks to culinary traditions, you can learn so much about family, politics and culture.

These festivals are not just a chance to taste mouthwatering local specialities but also to enjoy a unique local atmosphere.

You can take part in food tastings, have fun in workshops and learn some secrets from Michelin starred chefs at cooking shows.

Here are 5 food festivals in Italy that are just too delicious to miss.

The global meeting of the Slow Food and Terra Madre network held every two years in Turin, Italy. This event intends to promote good, clean and fair food, and celebrate local products and traditions. 

  • Open Cellars at Harvest Time (September & October all over Italy)

Movimento Turismo del Vino and its associated cellars organize every year open days along the weekends dedicated to the harvest in the vineyards and the festive rite related. It is the moment when wineries come alive with incessant work in the vineyards for the selection of the best bunches of grapes, an enchanting time to visit vineyards, participate alongside winemakers in the harvest and the first phases of production. To better welcome wine lovers, the wineries organize special events such as art exhibitions, shows, concerts and much more. From Garda Lake to Vesuvio, through to Piedmont and Sicily it is time for the harvest.
The participating wineries invite wine lovers to experience the festive side of the harvest: a day in the vineyards in the open air, immersed in the warm colours of summer’s end to enjoy tastings, country lunches and snacks in the vineyards.

It is a day of celebration, but also an opportunity to get to know the enchanting world of wine up close and to meet the producers and winemakers in action.

  • International Alba Truffle Show (6th October- 25th November)

There are truffle festivals and fairs throughout Italy during autumn to celebrate the season for this very decadent ingredient. However, the Alba truffle in Piedmont is one of the most famous, and  the Alba White Truffle World Market is the largest. At this festival you can view some of the biggest and most expensive truffles and sample gourmet dishes made with the white alba truffle.

The first Sunday of October the Palio degli Asini (Donkey race) takes place in the main square in Alba. The ninth neighborhoods of the city are challenging to win the “drappo”. Before the race, a medieval parade along the historical centre.

Then during the weekends it’s possible to participate in cooking shows with famous Italian chefs, tasting classes and many other laboratories or gourmet experiences.

All the restaurants of the Langhe area propose truffle-based menus paired with local excellent wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco.  It’s an absolute must for wine and food lovers, and the level of the event is extremely high but affordable to everyone!

  • EuroChocolate Perugia, International Chocolate Exhibition (Perugia 19th-28th October)

This year Eurochocolate celebrates its 25th birthday. Since the early 90s people have been flocking to Perugia’s annual festival of chocolate goodies: Eurochocolate. If you have a sweet tooth, book your travel plans immediately because, without a doubt, this is a dessert lover’s paradise. Amidst Perugia’s stony streets lie dozens of carts and small shops selling their mouth-watering wares. Think of a flavor-any sweet or savory memory of deliciousness-and you will find it here! During the first Sunday of the festival artists will create sculptures out of huge chocolate blocks.

http://www.eurochocolate.com/

  • November Porc (Parma area, on weekends 1st -25th November)

From 2002 this festival has been celebrating the gorgeous products created in lower Parma area.  Here – in the land where the famous composer Giuseppe Verdi was born – November has a special meaning because it’s the time of fog, and fog plays a crucial role in the aging process of cured meats such as Culatello di Zibello and Strolghino.

Every weekend of November a village of the area hosts a culinary festival dedicated to the incredible products created from pigs of ancient race here born and raised.

The choice is wide and we at FindYourItaly are ready to suggest and find the perfect culinary escape for your customers.

Our travel expert Roberta – licensed sommelier and foodie – is at your disposal to design customized itineraries dedicated to wine & food lovers.

By | 2018-08-22T14:20:22+00:00 August 22nd, 2018|Events|0 Comments