Festival delle Sagre Astigiane

Why it's special

Giovanni Borello of Asti's Chamber of Commerce started it in 1974 as a companion to the Douja d'Or, and it puts the cooking of the whole Astigiano countryside in one square. Each Pro Loco is a team of village volunteers serving the dishes it makes at its own sagra, some eighty specialities in all, and the stands sit in a temporary village with its own church, town hall and post office. On Sunday morning more than 3,000 people walk through the centre in old work clothes, each village staging a scene from rural life, from the grain harvest and hemp-making to emigration to America.

Programme · 2026

52nd edition, with 29 Pro Loco. Portacomaro Stazione joined in 2026 with a certified gluten-free menu.

• The food village opens on Saturday evening (18:30–24:00 in 2026) and on Sunday from late morning to evening (11:30–22:00).
• Sunday's parade sets off from Corso Matteotti at 9:30 and ends in Piazza Campo del Palio; seats in the grandstand in Piazza Alfieri cost €5 in 2026 and were sold at the ticket office in Piazzetta Italia beforehand and under the arcades of the Palazzo della Provincia on the morning.
• The wine comes from the Cantina delle Sagre, run by the Consorzio Barbera d'Asti e Vini del Monferrato, and in 2026 the official glass could be bought online in advance to skip the queue.
• Shuttle buses ran on both days from the car parks at Piazza Cosma Manera and the Asti Lido swimming pool, and there were special trains from Turin.
• Information: festivalsagre@gmail.com, +39 0141 399486.

The Festival delle Sagre began in 1974, the idea of Giovanni Borello, the Chamber of Commerce president who had already founded the Douja d'Or. Every village in the province has its own sagra, its Pro Loco's food festival built around one dish. Borello's idea was to bring them all to Asti for one weekend. Today around thirty Pro Loco take part, and Piazza Campo del Palio is turned into a small village of brick-fronted stands, with a church, a town hall and a post office, where you walk from stand to stand choosing a plate from each.

Sunday morning belongs to the parade. More than 3,000 people in period clothes walk from Corso Matteotti through Piazza San Secondo and Piazza Alfieri to the Campo del Palio, grouped by season. Each village stages a scene from the country life of a century ago: harvesting grain, working hemp, a sharecropper moving house on St Martin's day, the first time women voted. A jury judges the parade and the stands, and the best village wins the Giovanni Borello Super Trophy.

The festival falls a week after the Palio di Asti and usually on the opening weekend of the Douja d'Or, so the whole centre is busy. Come hungry, and early on Sunday if you want a good view of the parade. See what else is on in Asti.