Festivals & sagre
A year of village feasts.
From spring to late autumn, almost every weekend some village in the Langhe, Roero or Monferrato holds a sagra or fiera, and in the October–December truffle season several happen on the same Sunday.
“Truffles, wine, chestnuts, farinata, hazelnuts, stoccafisso and many more: almost every weekend there’s a festival in one village or another.” — Biagio Montaiuti
In 2026 the Monferrato tourism portal alone lists 22 truffle-fair dates between early October and mid-December, often three or four on the same Sunday. monferratontour.it (opens in a new tab)
Rocca Grimalda’s own year
Biagio’s home village keeps a calendar of its own, from an ancient carnival to a soup made to a secret recipe.
Carnival weekend, February
La Lachera
An ancient ritual carnival: dances, masked figures, the questua door-to-door rounds of the farmhouses and a bonfire.
Mid-June
Sagra Contadina
Country cooking: pasta e fagioli, gnocchi, grilled coppa and porchetta.
Early August, five evenings
Festa di San Giacomo
Ravioli and bollito misto, a fish night, and stoccafisso on the closing evening.
Last Sunday of August and the three days before
Sagra della Peirbuieira
Rocca Grimalda’s own soup of fresh lasagne, beans and garlic, made to a jealously guarded recipe.
The calendar, season by season
These are the usual periods, not fixed dates: sagre move every year with the calendar, the weather and the volunteers who run them. Always check the dates with the organisers before you travel.
Winter & Carnival
Carnival weekend, February
Folklore
La Lachera · Rocca Grimalda’s ancient carnival
Rocca Grimalda (AL)
An ancient ritual carnival: dances, masked figures, the questua door-to-door rounds of the farmhouses and a bonfire.
Source (La Lachera, opens in a new tab)
Spring
Late April to early May, two weekends
Wine
Vinum · Alba wine festival
Alba (CN)
The wines of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, tasted in the streets and squares of Alba’s historic centre.
Source (Vinum, opens in a new tab)Mid-May
Food
Paesi e Sapori · Villages & Flavours
Ovada (AL)
About twenty pro loco from the Ovada area each cook their own speciality, including farinata from Montaldo Bormida.
Source (Paesi e Sapori, opens in a new tab)
Summer
Mid-June
Food
Sagra Contadina · Farmers’ festival
San Giacomo, Rocca Grimalda (AL)
Country cooking: pasta e fagioli, gnocchi, grilled coppa and porchetta.
Source (Sagra Contadina, opens in a new tab)Mid to late June, Friday to Sunday
Food
Sagra della Farinata · Farinata festival
Montaldo Bormida (AL)
Farinata, the chickpea flatbread from the wood-fired oven, with music and fireworks on the Saturday.
Source (Sagra della Farinata, opens in a new tab)Late July
Food
Sagra dello Stoccafisso · Stockfish festival
Gaggina, Montaldo Bormida (AL)
Stoccafisso at a historic village festa, revived by the hamlet’s own association.
Source (Sagra dello Stoccafisso, opens in a new tab)Early August, five evenings
Food
Festa di San Giacomo · St James feast, with a closing stoccafisso night
San Giacomo, Rocca Grimalda (AL)
Ravioli and bollito misto, a fish night, and stoccafisso on the closing evening.
Source (Festa di San Giacomo, opens in a new tab)16 August
Folklore
Lancio dello stoccafisso · Stockfish-throwing contest
Tagliolo Monferrato (AL)
A village game in which dried stockfish is thrown for distance.
Source (Lancio dello stoccafisso, opens in a new tab)Last Sunday of August and the three days before
Food
Sagra della Peirbuieira · Peirbuieira soup festival
Rocca Grimalda (AL)
Rocca Grimalda’s own soup of fresh lasagne, beans and garlic, made to a jealously guarded recipe.
Source (Sagra della Peirbuieira, opens in a new tab)Late August, nine days
Hazelnuts
Fiera Nazionale della Nocciola · National Hazelnut Fair
Cortemilia (CN)
The Tonda Gentile hazelnut of the Alta Langa.
Source (Fiera Nazionale della Nocciola, opens in a new tab)
September
First Sunday of September
Palio
Palio di Asti · Asti Palio
Asti
A bareback horse race in Piazza Alfieri, after a parade of about 1,200 people in medieval costume.
Source (Palio di Asti, opens in a new tab)Second weekend of September
Food
Festival delle Sagre · Festival of Festivals
Asti
Pro loco from across the province cook their village dishes in one open-air food village, with a Sunday parade of rural-life floats.
Source (Festival delle Sagre, opens in a new tab)Mid-September, ten days
Wine
Douja d’Or · Asti wine fair
Asti
Tastings and masterclasses with the wines of the Asti area and of Piedmont.
Source (Douja d’Or, opens in a new tab)September, odd-numbered years
Food
Cheese · Slow Food cheese festival
Bra (CN)
The international festival of raw-milk cheese, organised by Slow Food and the City of Bra.
Source (Cheese, opens in a new tab)
Autumn: truffle & chestnut season
First Sunday of October
Palio
Palio degli Asini · Donkey Palio
Alba (CN)
Alba’s tongue-in-cheek reply to Asti: a medieval parade, then a donkey race among the town’s nine borghi.
Source (Palio degli Asini, opens in a new tab)Weekends from early or mid October to early December
Truffle
Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba · Alba International White Truffle Fair
Alba (CN)
The world’s great white truffle market, with food, wine and folklore.
Source (Fiera Internazionale del Tartufo Bianco d’Alba, opens in a new tab)Mid-October
Chestnuts
Fiera Nazionale del Marrone · National Chestnut Fair
Cuneo
Marroni chestnuts, chestnut trees and the produce of the mountains.
Source (Fiera Nazionale del Marrone, opens in a new tab)Third Sunday of October
Chestnuts
Castagnata e Sapori d’autunno · Chestnut roast & autumn flavours
Tagliolo Monferrato (AL)
Roast chestnuts and the produce of autumn.
Source (Castagnata e Sapori d’autunno, opens in a new tab)Two or three weekends in October
Truffle
Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo · National Truffle Fair
Moncalvo (AT)
The white truffle of the Monferrato.
Source (Fiera Nazionale del Tartufo, opens in a new tab)Early November
Truffle
Vi.Ta. – Ovada Wine & Truffles · Ovada wine & truffle fair
Ovada (AL)
Truffles and the wines of Ovada, including Dolcetto di Ovada.
Source (Vi.Ta. – Ovada Wine & Truffles, opens in a new tab)Two Sundays in mid to late November
Truffle
Trifola d’Or · Golden Truffle fair
Murisengo (AL)
The white truffle of the Monferrato.
Source (Trifola d’Or, opens in a new tab)Usually mid-December, shortly before ChristmasApproximate
Food
Fiera del Bue Grasso · Fat Ox Fair
Carrù (CN)
Prize Piedmontese oxen, and bollito misto served from early morning.
Source (Fiera del Bue Grasso, opens in a new tab)
Stoccafisso and farinata: specialities of the Ovada & Acqui Monferrato
Both dishes cross the Apennines from Liguria. Stoccafisso, dried stockfish, is a speciality of the Ovada and Acqui area, where Ligurian influence is strong; stoccafisso all’acquese is a local dish. Its sagre here are small and local: a summer festa at Gaggina di Montaldo Bormida, the closing night of San Giacomo’s feast at Rocca Grimalda, and Tagliolo’s stockfish-throwing contest.
Farinata, the chickpea flatbread baked in a wood-fired oven, has its own dedicated sagra at Montaldo Bormida in June, and appears on pro loco menus at Ovada’s Paesi e Sapori in May.
Watch the festivals
More local events
Many more village feasts are announced each year by the pro loco, including other Monferrato truffle fairs and, in the Acqui area, a historic stoccafisso sagra at Melazzo and Acqui’s Festa delle Feste. Their recent dates are unconfirmed, so ask us or the comune before planning a trip.
Be part of it
Live where the festivals are.
Ask Biagio about homes within walking distance of a village piazza, or a short drive from the great autumn fairs.
Start a conversation